Day care centers and kindergartens in South Korea’s relatively remote villages are understaffed, have trouble recruiting teachers, and receive a higher number of children raised by their grandparents or immigrant mothers compared to those in urban areas, a study showed Monday.

The study, organized by the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education, found that 44 percent of all kindergartens in the nations’ farming and fishing towns had trouble hiring teachers, while 38.2 percent of the institutions in the big cities had the same problem. 

In terms of day care centers, 71.4 percent of the institutions in remote regions had trouble recruiting employees, while 55.7 percent of those in cities experienced the same difficulties.

About 70 percent of the kindergartens in remote regions said the biggest problem they have recruiting employees has to do with the low number of applicants. Meanwhile, 64 percent of day care centers in remote areas said the biggest concern they have is the lack of applicants who are fully qualified for the job.

The study stressed that kindergartens and day care centers in remote regions need highly qualified and capable individuals as employees, as children being raised by their grandparents or foreign-born mothers often require specific needs and care. According to the study, 48.7 percent of all children at day care centers and kindergartens in remote regions were from double-income households, while 10.2 percent of them were born to foreign-born women married to South Korean nationals. 

However, statistics showed that teachers who work at day care centers in remote regions in general have a lower education level than those who work in cities. 

Currently, the minimum requirement to be a teacher at day care centers nationwide is a high school diploma. However, 34.7 percent of all day care teachers in cities had a degree from a four-year university program. Yet in the nation’s fishing and farming regions, only 24.1 percent of all day care center teachers had a university degree.

The study also found that because of the shortage of employees, meals were prepared by the director of the institutions, not a certified cook, at 25.9 percent of all day care centers in remote areas. Also, 24.5 percent of the centers in such regions had uncertified cooks prepare meals and snacks for the children. 

To improve the situation, the think tank suggested making sure all kindergartens and day care centers nationwide have a certified cook to ensure food safety, as well as introducing measures to attract more qualified teachers to the nation’s remote regions. “Offering higher salary, as well as safe housing, can be one such measure,” researchers wrote in the report.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)