Easier to Find Daycare Centers Offering Extended Evening Care When Working Late or on Holidays

[Financial News] The government is expanding the channels through which parents of infants and young children can find childcare providers they can use when they get off work late or work on holidays. The Ministry of Education said on the 19th that it plans to put up QR-code posters at pediatric clinics and children’s libraries, and improve related portals so users can search for providers and check how to apply from the homepages.
The Ministry of Education will distribute notices and posters about off-hours childcare at pediatric clinics, hospitals and clinics designated for health checkups for infants and young children, comprehensive childcare support centers, children’s libraries and other places frequently visited by their parents. Scanning a poster’s QR code with a mobile phone will let users check lists of off-hours childcare providers by region, eligibility requirements and available hours.
Off-hours childcare is a service that provides care after the regular operating hours of daycare centers and kindergartens, including in the late evening, on weekends and holidays, and during school breaks. It includes extended-hours care at daycare centers and hub-based childcare centers run by kindergartens and daycare centers. As of August 2026, 7,398 daycare centers offering extended-hours care and 162 hub-based childcare centers were in operation.
The ministry will improve its websites to make related information easier to find online as well. It plans to enable users to search for off-hours childcare providers and check how to apply from the homepages of the I-Sarang Portal and the after-school website on the Nuri Curriculum Portal. It will also post informational materials on the websites of provincial and metropolitan offices of education and local governments, and help direct users to relevant information through banners, pop-ups and other notifications.
Information provided through mobile platforms will also be expanded in stages. Starting in February 2027, users will be given a link to off-hours childcare information through KakaoTalk messages about kindergarten enrollment. From the second half of 2027, the government plans to provide a notification service about off-hours childcare at daycare centers and kindergartens through Government24’s National Assistant and Benefit Alert services.
Kim Jeong-yeon, the Ministry of Education’s Director for Early Childhood Support, said, “We will use channels that parents often encounter in their daily lives to provide information, so that they do not miss out on off-hours childcare because they cannot find out about it.” Kim added, “We will continue to expand the number of off-hours childcare providers where parents can leave their children with peace of mind.”
[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter