Ministry of Education: “Will consider reforms to preferential daycare admission for children from multicultural families after a fact-finding survey”

[Financial News] With President Lee Jae-myung raising concerns about fairness in the preferential treatment system for multicultural families, the Ministry of Education said it would consider whether to revise the system that grants children from multicultural families priority admission to daycare centers regardless of income. The ministry plans to assess the current system’s appropriateness after investigating how much the bonus points awarded to multicultural families affect actual daycare admissions.
On the 2nd, regarding the possibility of introducing an income requirement for priority admission of children from multicultural families to daycare centers, the Ministry of Education said, “We plan to conduct a fact-finding survey on how the points allocated to multicultural families for daycare admission affect actual admissions,” and added, “Based on the survey results, we will consider system improvements if the current system does not align with the policy’s intent.”
Under Article 28 of the current Infant Care Act, children from multicultural families are included in the first priority tier for daycare admission, alongside children of basic livelihood security recipients, near-poor households, and people eligible for support for single-parent families, among others. Children from multicultural families receive 100 points, with no separate income requirement. Dual-income households receive 200 points, while dual-income households that are also multicultural families receive 300. If all other conditions are equal, this system can place children from multicultural families higher in the admission rankings. However, priority admission is limited to children of multicultural families who hold Korean nationality, as defined by the relevant law.
The issue is whether it is appropriate to award bonus points on the basis of being part of a multicultural family, regardless of actual childcare needs or economic circumstances. Dual-income households in which both parents work and need someone to care for their child may question the fairness of admission rankings changing according to family composition, even when their childcare needs are the same.
On the other hand, there is also a need to support children from multicultural families in adapting linguistically and culturally. Since attending a daycare center can help children build relationships with their peers and adapt to Korean society, the argument is that their child-rearing and educational environment, as well as their economic circumstances, should be taken into account.
President Lee Jae-myung said, “Listening to voices saying that some aspects of policies supporting multicultural families raise issues that are difficult to understand, and calling for corrections if there are problems, cannot be considered a measure that excludes or discriminates against multicultural families.” President Lee emphasized, “Multicultural policies aimed at inclusion and openness should not set multicultural families apart and isolate them as a sanctuary of perpetual special treatment and immunity. Rather, they should strive to enable them to live together as ordinary members of the Republic of Korea community, enjoying equal rights and duties.”
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