Osan City Public Childcare Centers Accepting Waitlist Applications

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Twenty-eight public childcare centers in Osan City are accepting waitlist applications through the Childcare Portal, a comprehensive pregnancy and parenting website.

Public childcare centers are child-care facilities that select outstanding private and home-based childcare centers, with operational costs subsidized by the state and local governments, enabling them to provide high-quality childcare and function as public childcare infrastructure.

Nine public childcare centers in Osan City were newly designated in October last year, bringing the total currently in operation to 28. They provide customized childcare services through mandatory operations of open childcare centers and required childcare hours (7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays with designated on-duty teachers).

The capacity for infants and toddlers at Osan's public childcare centers has increased from 485 children at 19 centers last year to 689 children at 28 centers.

Childcare center information and waitlist applications are available year-round through the Childcare Portal (http://www.childcare.go.kr), with enrollment possible when vacancies become available at each center. Dual-income households and families with multiple children can apply with first-priority enrollment status.

Jeon Wook-hee, head of the City's Family and Childcare Division, said, “We will continue to expand the public childcare center initiative to provide high-quality childcare services and create a public childcare environment where parents can feel confident entrusting their children to our care.”