Daycare Centers Exempt from Kim Young-ran Act
Mom Cafes Debate "Should We Give Gifts?"
On the 15th, small events to express gratitude to teachers were held at schools across the country in celebration of Teacher's Day. However, since the enforcement of the Act on the Prohibition of Improper Solicitation and Graft (Kim Young-ran Act) in 2016, it has become a thing of the past for students or parents to give gifts to teachers.
Currently, the only ways to express gratitude to teachers on Teacher's Day are through handwritten letters or publicly presenting carnations. Some schools even send notices stating that no gifts other than handwritten letters are accepted.
On the morning of the 15th, Teacher's Day, the vice principal (right) and the youngest teacher are blowing out the candles on a cake in the teachers' office at Masan Girls' High School, Masanhappo-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongnam. [Photo by Yonhap News]
In the past, it was customary to give teachers gift certificates or snacks as a token of appreciation on Teacher's Day, but frequent corruption cases such as public officials receiving bribes led to the introduction of the Kim Young-ran Act to prevent corruption.
According to the enforcement decree of the Kim Young-ran Act, the value limits for gifts that public officials can receive are 30,000 KRW for food, 50,000 KRW for congratulatory or condolence money, 100,000 KRW for wreaths or floral arrangements, and 50,000 KRW for gifts (100,000 KRW for seafood and its processed products). Violating the Kim Young-ran Act can result in imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million KRW.
Although the Kim Young-ran Act was originally proposed to prevent improper money and gift exchanges among public officials, its scope was expanded during the legislative process to include journalists, private school staff, and others.
However, there are facilities exempt from the Kim Young-ran Act. The Act applies to teachers under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Higher Education Act, and Early Childhood Education Act, but in principle, it does not apply to daycare centers regulated by the Infant Care Act.
As a result, on mom cafes and other platforms mainly used by daycare parents, inquiries such as "Should we give gifts on Teacher's Day even though it is a daycare center?" surged ahead of Teacher's Day.
However, even in daycare centers, the director of a national or public daycare center is classified as a public official entrusted with administrative duties (an individual granted public administrative authority or public power) and is subject to the Kim Young-ran Act. In the case of kindergartens, unlike daycare centers, both the director and teachers are included under the Kim Young-ran Act.
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