Private kindergartens' group faces license revocation

The regional education office in Seoul decided Monday to revoke the license of the Korea Kindergarten Association (KKA) over its move to postpone opening for the school spring semester. / Yonhap

By Kim Jae-heun

The regional education office in Seoul decided Monday to revoke the license of the Korea Kindergarten Association (KKA) over its move to postpone opening for the school spring semester to protest the government's push for its members to adopt a more transparent financial management system.

The association immediately announced it would halt its plan, but the regional education office made no change to its determination.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), which has authority over the KKA, said that it would cancel the license as some association members followed through on their threat not to open the same day.

“We are reviewing the detailed process for the cancellation, and Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon will announce it Tuesday,” an SMOE official said.

According to the relevant law, the office can revoke the license of a corporate body that acts against the public interest. “The KKA threatened parents and children by delaying the opening and talking about collective closures, and we regard this as an act against the public interest,” the official said.

The office will notify the KKA of its provisional license cancellation today. After a public hearing to listen to its arguments, the SMOE will make a final decision. The KKA can fight the cancellation through an administrative lawsuit.

The central government is also taking a firm stance against the KKA's “illegal acts.”

The Ministry of Education issued a corrective order to private kindergartens that did not open Monday, and will seek to file criminal charges if they fail to follow the order and remain closed Today.

Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said private kindergartens' delaying their opening was an illegal act infringing on children's right to learn.

“The government will put a priority on protecting children's right to education, and cooperate with related government bodies and offices to minimize the inconvenience to parents,” Yoo said during her visit to an annex of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education in Yongin.

In a statement to the public, she reaffirmed that the government would deal with the issue according to the law and principle, pledging it would continue its efforts to increase transparency of management at private kindergartens.

According to the ministry, it is against the law for a kindergarten to postpone its opening without discussions at each institution's operations committee. But the KKA argue that their protest abides by the law as the kindergartens will eventually open for the number of schooldays fixed by the relevant law.

The ministry requested the Fair Trade Commission to investigate the KKA, saying it had violated the Fair Trade Act by forcing its members to delay their openings.

Politicians also joined in with the criticism of the KKA, with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) saying the group was holding children hostage for its private interests.

“This is not the first time private kindergarten owners have committed such an illegal act and it is important that the government take stern action against them,” Chairman Lee Hae-chan said in a party meeting at the National Assembly.

Seeing the government's uncompromising stance, some KKA members decided to open as originally planned.

According to the ministry and regional education offices' on-site inspections, only 239 preschools did not open Monday, which is 6.2 percent of the 3,875 private kindergartens nationwide. Among the 239, 92.5 percent did not offer regular classes but provided daycare services, meaning only 18 were closed completely.

The number is far lower than the KKA's earlier claim Sunday, when it said more than 1,500 member institutions would remain closed.