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/Photo by Reporter Park Sung-il

A municipal-led childcare model designed to bridge the gap during school vacations—when children often have nowhere to go after morning in-school programs end—will officially launch this summer. Under the framework, students will receive care and education at their respective schools in the morning before shifting to hub schools or community institutions in the afternoon to participate in specialized programs connected with local military bases and universities.

The Ministry of Education announced on May 22 that it has selected 17 basic local governments to administer the "2026 Excellent Elementary Childcare and Education Models During Vacations" support project. The designated municipalities will receive an average of 860 million won in subsidies to implement these collaborative school-community childcare initiatives starting this upcoming summer break.

The core objective of the project centers on leveraging community-wide resources to share the burden of childcare demands that are difficult to satisfy through school-based care alone during long breaks. The blueprints incorporate a mix of off-site experiential learning field trips organized between schools and local agencies, alongside full-day programming that seamlessly links in-school care with community setups. The vast majority of the selected municipalities also plan to provide complimentary lunches and snacks to participating students.

In Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province, the physical location of the childcare shifts between the morning and afternoon blocks. On weekdays, individual schools will run their own care and education tracks through the morning and provide lunch. In the afternoon, students will be shuttled to designated hub schools to engage in specialized programs organized in tandem with nearby military units and local higher education institutions. The setup creates a continuous, single-day care sequence within the community, spanning remedial foundational academic support, unique experiential activities, and snack services.

Meanwhile, Yesan County in South Chungcheong Province focused its strategy on the fact that conventional school-based vacation childcare classrooms operate for only a limited duration. During the window when school-based care is completely unavailable, the county will activate its community-linked care network to eliminate any coverage gaps, while providing free meals and snacks to the children.

The top-rated regional models include four municipalities: Yeoncheon County, Ulju County in Ulsan, Yeonggwang County in South Jeolla Province, and Yesan County. The remaining selections comprise Yeongdeungpo District in Seoul; Ongjin County in Incheon; Namyangju and Hwaseong cities in Gyeonggi Province; Gunwi and Dalseong counties in Daegu; Uiseong County in North Gyeongsang Province; Jinan, Sunchang, and Buan counties in North Jeolla Province; Jeju Special Self-Governing Province; Jincheon County in North Chungcheong Province; and Nonsan City in South Chungcheong Province.

The designated local governments will utilize the month of June as a preparation period before launching their respective models for the summer vacation. Throughout this phase, the Ministry of Education, competent regional offices of education, the Korean Educational Development Institute, and industry experts will provide consulting services to refine and optimize the programs.

"Resolving blind spots in childcare through close cooperation between local communities and schools is one of the overriding goals of our neighborhood-wide elementary childcare and education policy," said Choi Eun-ok, Vice Minister of Education. "We anticipate that this project will serve as a catalyst for establishing customized vacation childcare and education support schemes tailored to the unique conditions of each region."

                                                                                                        Kim Nam-hyeong