“Starting from the 5th of next month, the operating hours of 360 ‘after-school care facilities’ nationwide will be extended to 10 PM to 12 AM. This is a pilot project aimed at filling the gap in nighttime care.”
On the 28th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that it would select 360 out of the 5,500 after-school care facilities nationwide to participate in the ‘Nighttime Extended Care Project.’ Currently, care facilities operate from 1 PM to 8 PM. Under this project, 326 facilities will extend their operating hours to 10 PM, while 34 facilities will extend to 12 AM.
Even families who have not previously used village care facilities may use them by registering up to two hours in advance, allowing any child aged 6 to 12 to be looked after. The locations and contact information of the 360 participating facilities can be found on the website of the National Center for the Rights of the Child.
To prevent excessive use, a fee of up to 5,000 won per day will be charged. However, welfare beneficiaries and low-income households can use the facilities for free.
This initiative is a follow-up measure prompted by the need to address the gap in nighttime care highlighted by an incident in Busan last June-July, where a child died in a fire while home alone.
Jang Young-jin, Director of the Child Protection and Independence Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, “We have newly established a public care system where guardians can safely entrust their children near their location in case of emergencies. We will continuously make improvements based on feedback during the implementation process to ensure the system is firmly established.”