South Korea

Korea Times
Preschool Enrollments Drop

By Chung Ah-young Staff Reporter

The number of children attending kindergartens fell to a record low of 85,302 last year from 104,999 in 1994 in Seoul due mainly to the rapidly falling birthrate.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Thursday that the number of children enrolled in preschools has been on the decline as young couples have fewer and fewer children.

Park Young-ja, a senior official at the education office, said that children aged 3-5 have declined recently, thus reducing the number of children enrolled to preschools in the region.

However, the number of state-run preschools in Seoul has been on the rise from 7,996 in 2003 to 8,588 last year, while the number of kindergartens has plunged to 76,714 last year, a three-percent decline from 79,472 in 2004.

But some of preschools are transforming themselves into another type of educational institutions for children, rather than shutting down,’’ she said.

A total of 923 preschools were in operation in Seoul last year, a 3-percent decline from 949 in 2004.

Meanwhile, the number of state-run kindergartens has declined to 107 from 117.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development plans to expand financial support for the education of five-year-olds in low-income households from 64.2 billion won last year to 116.8 billion won in 2006.

About 142,000 children, or half the number of five-year-olds in the country, will benefit from free education in kindergartens and other childcare centers from this year.

Children attending public preschools or kindergartens will receive 53,000 won a month, while those attending private preschools will be financed 157,000 won.

The ministry also set aside about 77.5 billion won to support children aged three and four, a fourfold increase from the current 16.3 billion won.

The number of beneficiaries aged three and four will increase from the current 32,000 to 155,000.