110,000 Won for Private Kindergartens, 70,000 Won for Daycare Centers
Additional 70,000 Won Support for Public Kindergartens
Expansion to Four-Year-Olds Next Year and Three-Year-Olds the Year After
Starting this month, free education and childcare will be provided for five-year-old children attending daycare centers and kindergartens.
The Ministry of Education announced on July 29 that the Cabinet had deliberated and approved the "General Account Reserve Fund Expenditure Plan for the Implementation of Free Education and Childcare for Five-Year-Olds in the Second Half of 2025."
As a result, a total of 128.9 billion won will be provided for six months of education and childcare fees for approximately 278,000 five-year-old children in daycare centers and kindergartens. The support will begin with July payments, provided through daycare centers and kindergartens. Parents will no longer need to pay the portion of tuition or necessary expenses that is now covered by the additional support. If parents have already paid for this month, the amount will be refunded or carried over to the next month, following consultation with the daycare or kindergarten management committee or after gathering parents' opinions.
Previously, in June last year, the Ministry of Education announced plans to increase the subsidy for five-year-old children's education and childcare fees to the level of the standard early childhood education cost. While the government has been supporting education and childcare fees for children aged three to five, there were still portions that parents had to pay themselves.
With this additional support, effectively achieving "free education" for five-year-olds, this financial burden on parents will be reduced. In public kindergartens, there are no separate parent contributions, so after-school program fees will be increased to 70,000 won, matching the level of private kindergartens. For private kindergartens, an additional 110,000 won will be provided, which is the difference between the standard early childhood education cost of 557,000 won and the average government and provincial education office subsidy of 448,000 won.
For daycare centers, parents will receive support for the average amount of necessary expenses such as admission preparation fees, special activity fees, and field trip fees, which is 70,000 won. In the case of daycare centers, local governments have already been providing additional support for the difference in childcare fees, so the standard childcare cost of 522,000 won has already been covered.
The Ministry of Education plans to expand free education and childcare to four-year-olds next year, and to three-year-olds in 2027.
Kang Mingyu, Director of the Early Childhood Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Education, stated, "Through the provision of free education and childcare support, we expect to realize the President's pledge of state-responsible early childhood education and care," and added, "We will continue to expand support for early childhood education and care to achieve equality at the starting line of life."
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