Protest by corrupt daycare directors

A nursery school has been found to have received 2.9 million won (2,479 U.S. dollars) from the government by falsely reporting that two child care staff members worked for seven months. The head of another daycare center misused 4 million won (3,400 dollars) in operating expenses to "feed her family." Another daycare director used the facility’s operating expenses as gas money by manipulating a financial report. The Board of Audit and Inspection in an audit of 1,613 daycare centers nationwide has announced these findings. A combined 534 child care facilities were found to have embezzled government subsidies by falsely registering teachers and illegally claiming child care expenses.

Ninety percent of such centers are privately operated. Strictly speaking, however, private nursery schools are not private facilities. From this year, the government began providing all daycare centers with 115,000 to 361,000 won (98 to 308 dollars) per child younger than age 2. Daycare centers also get tax exemptions because they are considered social welfare facilities. Child care fees cannot be raised arbitrarily due to their public nature. The government has designated this year the first year of “public child care.”

Moral hazard at child care centers began after government support for child care expenses expanded. More than a few housewives who can take care of their children at home send them to daycare centers to get state support. Such centers are happy over this situation. The head of one nursery school said, “This is the first time this year that I`ve felt our capacity since opening.” As government subsidies increase whenever such a facility enrolls another child, certain nursery schools lure mothers with a rebate.

Daycare centers that were punished for corruption will hold a mass demonstration at Seoul Plaza June 7 and 8. They attempted to close en masse in February, but had a change of heart in the wake of negative public opinion. More than 500 nursery school directors in Seoul even held a workshop on handling government inspections and administrative measures. They were told to snatch recorders from audit officials and throw them down. Such facilities cannot take good care of children. The government will be better off giving child care allowances to homes instead of subsidies to such corrupt facilities.

Editorial Writer Chung Sung-hee (shchung@donga.com)