유보통합의 단계적 추진 모니터링 및 성과 제고 방안(Ⅰ): 실행과제 도출과 성과지표 개발

Abstract

Over the past 30 years, choosing early childhood and care (henceforth, ECEC) integration as a national agenda, expectations for the integration have been heightened. The Korean government strives to integrate ECEC in order to alleviate the educational gap that accumulates from early years due to differences in services under the current split ECEC system. The Government designed the "step-by-step implementation of ECEC integration" and designated the Ministry of Education as the leading ministry. This research is a three-year study (2023-2025) to improve the outcomes of ECEC integration by monitoring integration processes, identifying challenges, and suggesting alternative solutions. In the first year of research, the focus was on 1) analyzing the preparation status and needs for the integration at the central and local government levels, 2) developing outcome indicators, 3) highlighting a case of the integration at the local level, and 4) suggesting ways to improve integration outcomes. A range of methods were employed to gather different views of various stakeholders including Delphi surveys for developing outcome indicators, surveys of and workshops with officials from 17 local education and provincial offices nationwide, webinars with foreign experts, and a policy seminar. The results of the Delphi survey show that the five top priorities for mid- to long-term outcome indicators based on the objectives of the ECEC integration are as follows: ① Bridging the educational gap in young children (17.3%), ② Enhancing policy stability, consistency, and efficiency through the consolidation of administrative systems (16.8%), ③ Promoting holistic development and well-being of young children (12.6%), ④ Enhancing the professionalism and job satisfaction of teachers (11.2%), ⑤ Improving the quality of curriculum implementation (10.7%). Measures to enhance outcomes of the ECEC integration are suggested including relevant legislative amendments, securing administrative personnel and funding for the integration, developing manuals to guide the integration at the local level, finalizing and utilizing outcome indicators, and providing consulting to various stakeholders regarding the integration processes.