Hello
Today we prepared news about childcare fees for foreign children and school expense support. Many changes have taken place since March 2022, and it seems that many more things will change in the future.
MAP did research and prepared a table showing the regions where you can receive childcare fees or school expense support for foreign children.
It is a little complicated and confusing, so please review the news carefully.
Can I get support for childcare fees and school expenses for foreign children?
Current status of childcare fee and school expense support for foreign children at day care centers and kindergartens, by region
People started to argue that “we should support childcare fees for foreign children” and “we should support children who go to day care centers and kindergartens.” After that, 7 education offices in Korea (including Seoul, Incheon, Gwangju, Gyeonggi, Jeonbuk, Gyeongbuk and Sejong) announced that they would provide Nuri course fees (education fees for ages 3 to 5) for foreign children. Because the office of education is responsible for kindergartens, the 7 education offices mentioned above support school expenses for kindergartens in each region. However, day care centers fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Therefore, the office of education cannot support childcare fees for day care centers. Foreign children can receive childcare fee support only if the local government decides to provide it to them.
In the chart below, we summarized the support provided by each education office and by local government decisions. Outside the regions listed in the chart, foreign children cannot receive childcare fees or school expenses. (The chart is taken from research conducted on April 14, 2022. There may be changes, so we recommend that you contact the local government or the day care center or kindergarten from which you want to receive support to confirm.)
| Classification | Day care center | Kindergarten | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support or not | Start date | Amount / month | Support or not | Start date | Amount / month | |||
| Full support / partial support | Seoul | Only Guro, Geumcheon, and Yeongdeungpo-gu | March – April 2022 | 20% of the amount is paid by the parents | O | March 2022 | 150,000~350,000won(differs depending on whether the facility is public or private) | |
| Incheon | X | |||||||
| Gyeonggi | ||||||||
| Uijeongbu | O | 2022 | 22,000 | |||||
| Bucheon | O | March 2022 | 240,000 | |||||
| Ansan | O | March 2021 | 220,000~240,000 | |||||
| Gwangju | O | July 2022 | 280,000 | |||||
| Jeonbuk | Only Jeongeup Si | March 2022 | 280,000 | |||||
| Gyeongbuk | Only Gyeongju Si | January 2022 | 100,000 | |||||
| Sejong | X | |||||||
| Chungbuk | Currently under discussion |
Seoul City asks the government to support childcare fees for foreign children in day care
As you can see in the chart above, parents of foreign children in Seoul have had their financial burden eased if their children go to kindergarten from March 2022. However, if the children go to a day care center, their parents cannot get this relief.
An official of Seoul City said that they are aware that this situation may harm parents and day care centers because it may reduce the number of children enrolled at the centers. However, Seoul City can hardly cover the cost without help from the government because there are more than 5,000 day care centers in Seoul. Therefore, Seoul City asked the Ministry of Health and Welfare to provide basic childcare fees for foreign children aged 3 to 5. We need to watch how childcare fee support for foreign children will be decided in the future.
Refugees can receive childcare fee support regardless of the regulations
According to the regulations, children aged 0 to 5 who hold Korean nationality and a valid resident registration number can receive day care center childcare fees. This means there is no legal basis for supporting childcare fees for foreign children, apart from the exceptions shown in the chart above. However, the Korean government recognizes some official exceptions.
Exception 1) As an exception, refugees are covered by childcare fee support and childcare allowance.
Exception 2) Those who were issued a resident registration number under the Resident Registration Act, Article 6, Paragraph 1-3, and those residing abroad under the Resident Registration Act, Article 19, Paragraph 4, are covered by childcare fee support and the child-rearing allowance. (Overseas Koreans who reside abroad without reporting it are excluded from the support.)
