Primary care until 8:00 pm to prevent ‘school run’

From 2025, elementary school students who wish will be able to use school care classes or after-school classes operated before and after regular classes. The operating hours of the childcare class will be increased to 8:00pm, and a temporary childcare service will be created to leave the child in case of an emergency.

Eyes wonder if this measure will alleviate the reality that lower grade elementary school children who were eliminated from the care class lottery at the beginning of the semester have nowhere to go, so they have to go from around ‘academy round and round’, and women. career intervention, which is focused when their children enter elementary school

Any prospective student can apply
Implement a pilot in 200 schools this year
Respite care arrangements for emergencies

The Ministry of Education announced plans to promote ‘Neulbom School’ at the Sejong Government Center on the 9th. Ysgol Neulbom is a policy that the Ministry of Education is giving strength to after the admission to elementary school for 5-year-olds, which was promoted last year with the slogan of ‘strengthening national responsibility for education’, was canceled after fierce controversy. . It was originally named ‘Full Time Elementary School’, but it was changed when attention was drawn to the fact that the school kept children confined all day. The Ministry of Education is implementing the Ysgol Neulbom pilot project in 200 schools belonging to four education offices this year. Next year, it plans to increase the number of pilot education offices to 7 to 8 and introduce them nationwide from 2025. When Neulbom School is introduced, the operating hours of the school’s childcare classes, which are currently until 5:00pm , are increased to 8:00pm. Temporary childcare services are also being trialled to look after children who urgently need care at night due to special circumstances.

The key is to provide education and care services to all elementary school students who wish. The number of elementary school care classes increased from 11,980 in 2017 to 14,970 in 2022, but last year, the number of back-up people who wanted care classes but could not use them reached 15,106. If parents who have given up childcare classes are included, the actual waiting demand is expected to be greater than this.

Dual income couples in metropolitan areas, where the competition for care classes is fierce, have to send their children to 2-3 academies according to their schedules if they fail the lottery for care classes. Some choose to attend private elementary schools with well-equipped after-school programs, or quit their jobs when their children enter elementary school. The Ministry of Education explains that schools in large cities with large numbers of people waiting for care classes do not have facilities to turn into care classes because the space is saturated.

The Ministry of Education continues to expand childcare facilities in schools, but decided to build a total of 25 “primary care models” under the supervision of metropolitan and provincial education offices, five per year from the second half of this year until 2027. Currently , two are in operation in the Gyeongsangnam-do region.

If this model spreads, it is expected that the school will take care of the lower grades and the upper grades will take a shuttle bus to take care of them outside and use programs after school. It is estimated that around 12,000 people can use respite care and after school programs through primary type care.

Too much work for teachers and carers
Concerns about long-term child neglect

When the plan to promote Ysgol Neulbom was announced, concerns came first in the field of education rather than happiness. This is because expanding the operation of childcare classes will increase the workload of teachers and carers, and could lead to situations where children are neglected in schools without quality programmes.

At present, school teachers are responsible for most of the administrative work for childcare classes and after school schools. Kim Hee-seong, deputy spokesman for the Federation of Teachers’ Unions, said, “The Ministry of Education’s plan should be realized so that teachers can really feel the reduction in work.”

The National Education Office of the Korean Confederation of Public Transport Workers Headquarters issued a statement on the same day, saying, “Neulbom School is impossible with the current working conditions, workforce and treatment for educational officials.” It must be accompanied by this.”

The Ministry of Education has not yet drawn up measures for carers. An official from the Ministry of Education said, “Currently, 35% of caregivers work full-time, and as this is determined through negotiations with metropolitan and provincial education offices, (the time transition full) proceeds sequentially.”

There are also concerns that Ysgol Neulbom can only force children to stay at school for a long time. In order to move towards home care, it is necessary to link to labor policies such as reducing working hours, but if children are left at school until 8 pm

Jang Gyeong-eun, professor of child and family studies at Kyunghee University, said, “We need an environment where high-quality programs can be implemented in care classes.”