The government will expand this year's free education and care support to children ages 4 to 5 who attend daycare centers and kindergartens.
The Ministry of Education said on the 3rd that it will provide a total of 470.3 billion won to about 503,000 children ages 4 to 5 who attend daycare centers and kindergartens starting in March.
The government began providing free education and care support in July last year for about 278,000 5-year-olds. This year it will cover ages 4 to 5, and in 2027 it will gradually expand the target to ages 3 to 5.
Thanks to government support, as of December last year, the additional fees that parents of 5-year-olds had been paying to daycare centers and kindergartens fell 26.6% from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, free education and care funds are provided through daycare centers and kindergartens. Starting in March this year, parents of children ages 4 to 5 will receive support without a separate application process, with the amount equivalent to the free education and care funds deducted from the existing kindergarten tuition or other necessary expenses at daycare centers.
Kang Min-gyu, director general for early childhood policy at the Ministry of Education, said the government plans to continue expanding support for early childhood education and care so that children are guaranteed equal opportunities from the starting line in life and parents can ease their worries and burdens.