Seminars

The Korea Institute of Child Care and Education (KICCE) held the 4th Childcare Policy Symposium on December 13, 2024 (Friday) at 2:30 PM at the KICCE main conference room, located on the 9th floor of the Myeongdong Post Tower. The symposium, co-hosted with the office of National Assembly member Ahn Sang-hoon, was themed “R&D Development Strategies for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Integration Following the Revision of the Government Organization Act.”

The main presentation session of the symposium featured a total of five presentations. The first presentation was delivered by Senior Research Fellow Choi Eun-young, Director of the Planning and Coordination Division at KICCE, under the title “ECCE Integration Research Initiatives at KICCE as an R&D Hub for Childcare Policy.” This was followed by a presentation by Senior Research Fellow Kim Eunyoung, Head of the Office of ECEC Policy Research at KICCE, on “Research on the Development and Application of the Early Childhood Education Curriculum.” Next, Senior Research Fellow Kang Eun Jin, Head of the Office of Fertility Support and Family Policy Research at KICCE, gave a presentation on “Trends in Research on Early Childhood Teacher Training and Qualification Systems.” The fourth presentation was delivered by Senior Research Fellow Kim Eun-seol from KICCE’s ECCE Integration Pilot Project Central Support Center, who discussed “Support Research for the 2024 ECCE Integration Pilot Project (tentatively named Early Childhood School Pilot Project).” Finally, Research Fellow Choi Hyo Mi, Head of the Parents Support Policy Research Team at KICCE, gave a presentation on “The Practical Implications of ECCE Integration from an Economic Perspective.”

Following the presentation session, a comprehensive panel discussion was held. The discussion was moderated by Professor Chung Shunah from the Devision of Child Welfare & Studies at Sookmyung Women’s University, with participation from experts from academia, parents, pre-service teachers, and journalists. Hong Geun-suk, Research Fellow at the Korea Research Institute for Local Administration (KRILA), provided insights on administrative and financial aspects of ECCE integration. Professor Kim Jung Hyun from the Department of Social Education at Jeonbuk National University discussed issues related to the revision of laws concerning ECCE integration. Parent representative Maria Lee shared her perspectives as a parent on ECCE integration. Contributions from pre-service teachers included presentations from Han-ul Choi, a student at Sahmyook University’s Department of Early Childhood Education, and Ye-bin Jung, a student at the Department of Child Studies at Mokpo National University, who shared their perspectives on ECCE integration from the viewpoint of future educators. Additionally, journalist Kim Ji-ye from The Seoul Shinmun participated as a panelist, providing perspectives and questions from the media’s point of view, thereby broadening the scope of discussion.