Seminars

2024 Pilot Project for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Integration Workshop on Operational Outcomes

The Korea Institute of Child Care and Education (KICCE) hosted the "Workshop on Operational Outcomes of the 2024 Pilot Project for ECEC Integration" from February 13 (Thursday) to February 14 (Friday), 2025, at Paradise Hotel Busan. This workshop was organized to share the operational outcomes of the 2024 pilot project by provincial and metropolitan offices of education, conduct the fourth round of consulting sessions, and introduce the operational support manual for the following year's pilot project.

Approximately 80 participants attended the event, including officials from the Early Childhood Standards Policy Division of the Ministry of Education, the President and researchers of KICCE, representatives from the Korea Childcare Promotion Institute, and officials from 17 provincial and metropolitan offices of education responsible for the pilot project for the (tentatively named) Integrated Early Childhood Schools.

The workshop commenced with a keynote lecture by Professor Sunyoung Lee from the Department of Education at Seoul National University, titled "Fostering Creativity and Play-Based Learning in Early Childhood Education." Following the keynote, KICCE presented key findings from its research supporting the implementation of the pilot project, and the Korea Childcare Promotion Institute reported on the monitoring results of daycare centers. Each provincial and metropolitan office of education shared its operational outcomes, followed by a session summarizing the pilot project and the fourth round of consulting, which focused on the special initiatives of each office of education. The event also included an introduction and discussion of KICCE’s proposed operational support manual for the pilot project and concluded with a briefing by the Ministry of Education on plans for the 2025 pilot project.

This workshop provided an opportunity for in-depth discussions on the achievements and challenges of the pilot project while fostering close collaboration to ensure that field perspectives are effectively reflected in the ongoing implementation of ECEC integration policies.