Seminars

The Korea Institute of Child Care and Education (KICCE), led by President Ock Kyeung Hwang, successfully hosted the 2025 2nd KICCE Policy Forum on Friday, July 4, at 1:00 p.m. in the Grand Conference Hall of the National Assembly.

Held under the theme “National Policy Agenda and the Future Direction of Early Childhood Education and Care: Integration, Quality Transformation, and New Imagination,” the forum was co-hosted with the offices of National Assembly Members Seunga Bak, Kyungsook Kang, Youngho Kim, Junhyuk Kim, and Jinsook Jeon.

The event drew significant attention as a platform for public dialogue on restructuring early childhood education and care to strengthen public responsibility and quality following the integration of education and care services.

Dr. Changhyun Park, a research fellow at KICCE, delivered the keynote presentation titled “Redesigning Early Childhood Education and Care: Strategies for State Responsibility and a Quality-Centered Transition.”

He emphasized the need to redefine evaluation, quality, and accountability under a new framework after integration.

Key policy tasks included integrating care and education, strengthening the substance of public responsibility, and ensuring the autonomy and professionalism of teachers.

The forum continued with three thematic panel sessions, featuring diverse stakeholders and vibrant discussions:

Session 1: Imagining New Institutions – What Kind of Education and Care Environment Do We Envision?

This session explored the vision of institutions that truly center on the child in the post-integration era. Discussions focused on reorganizing children’s lives, time, and space through various imaginative proposals.

Session 2: How Do We Build Together? – Reconstructing Public Responsibility and Social Governance in the Integration Era

Panelists discussed how to practically realize core values such as publicness, governance, inclusivity, and free education in the new era.

Session 3: Is Responsible Integration Possible? – Assessing the Practical Leadership of Government and Local Authorities

This session addressed the division of roles between central and local governments, the practical operation of collaborative governance, strategies for unified financial systems, and establishing sustainable accountability structures.

The forum was live-streamed on KICCE’s official YouTube channel, KICCE_Youtube, and the proceedings are available for replay.

The forum booklet can be downloaded from the KICCE website.

KICCE will continue to promote diverse policy discussions and public dialogue to support a qualitative transformation of early childhood education and care after integration.