Reasons for Proposal
It is the state and society’s responsibility to make sure that children grow up healthy. Even though care can no longer be addressed solely by parents or family due to social changes, a stable public care system has not been prepared yet, and there is no legal basis for the system.
Consequently, response to care demand is concentrated on schools, and care outside schools varies depending on the region, which fails to provide quality care systematically to children and parents.
In this regard, the Special Act on the Operation and Support of the All-Day Care System is legislated to establish the All-Day Care Special Committee, which consists of the Prime Minister as its chair, the Minister of Education/Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs as its vice chair, and the Minister of Gender Equality and Family, the Minister of Health and Welfare, the Minister of the Interior and Safety, the heads of local government associations as its members, establish and manage an integrated care system at the government level, and define matters related to the all-day care system so that local governments can take the lead in providing care services tailored to local characteristics and conditions.
Details
A. Require the central and local governments to establish and implement policies to support all-day care to protect the safety and health of the elementary school-aged children (Article 3)
B. Establish the All-Day Care Special Committee, which consists of the Prime Minister as its chair, the Minister of Education/Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs as its vice chair, and the Minister of Gender Equality and Family, the Minister of Health and Welfare, the Minister of the Interior and Safety, the heads of local government associations as its members (Article 5)
C. Require the All-Day Care Special Committee to establish a comprehensive all-day care operation plan every 5 years and make sure that there is no imbalance in child care due to different levels of financial resources in local governments in charge of implementing all-day care (Article 6)
D. Require the head of any relevant central administrative agency to establish and implement annual all-day care action plans under the comprehensive plan and the head of any local government to establish and implement annual local all-day care action plans in consultation with the Superintendent of the Office of Education or the head of a district office of education (Article 7)
E. Place the Regional and Basic Care Council to oversee and supervise important matters in local all-day care and coordinate and collaborate between projects related to the conduct of all-day care (Articles 8 and 9)
F. State that all-day care means elementary school-aged children shall be provided protection for their safety, snacks and school meals, aptitude and capacity building support, emotional support including counseling, and other matters prescribed by Presidential Decree (Article 10)
G. Require any person who establishes and operates all-day care facilities to have appropriate facilities and staff, and allow the city or provincial ordinance to define standards for all-day care facility construction and staff operation (Article 11)
H. Allow the Minister of Education, the head of any relevant central administrative agency, and the head of any local government to guide and supervise the operation of all-day care facilities as prescribed by Presidential Decree (Article 12)
I. Allow the All-Day Care Special Committee to establish and operate the Central All-Day Care Support Center to support the operation of all-day care facilities and develop and disseminate related programs and the Mayor/Do Governor to establish and operate local centers as defined by ordinance (Article 13)
J. Allow the all-day care facility operator to require parents to pay for some part of the cost needed to provide care (Article 16)
K. Establish and operate the all-day care information system to comprehensively manage and provide information related to the status of all-day care facilities and the description of care by facility (Article 17)
Note
This Act rests on the premise that the “Partial Amendment to the Act on Regulation of Special Cases of State Property” (Bill no. 2666), represented and proposed by National Assembly member Kang Min-jung, passes, and thus, if the bill fails to pass or passes with modification, this Act must be adjusted accordingly.
