By Honorary Reporter Mohammad Aksol Muntaha Muntaha from Indonesia

Photos = Ida Nur Fatmawati

According to this year's Kids Rights Index, Korea is the second-best country in Asia for children with an overall score of 0.861. Ida Nur Fatmawati is an Indonesian expat who is raising her child Nazua in Korea and has plenty to say about childrearing in the nation. The following are excerpts from our Dec. 15 discussion on Instagram.

Please introduce yourself
My name is Ida Nur Fatmawati, mother to kindergartner Nazua. We've lived in Korea since March last year after joining my husband, who received a Global Korea Scholarship to pursue a doctorate at Kumoh National Institute of Technology in Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.

What children's facilities are provided by the Korean government?
Korea has many facilities for children like libraries, playgrounds and toilets at public bathrooms as well as venues for mothers with babies ages three to 10 months. 

The speed limit is 20 km per hour near schools and there are fences on sidewalks. In addition, children can play freely and safely at playgrounds without their parents because of many surveillance cameras and officers at police stations. There is little street crime.

What about education and health for children?
Education is free from kindergarten to high school and the facilities and quality of schools are on par with international standard schools in Indonesia. Every student receives a bag, books and stationery and also free lunch with milk, yogurt and fruit. Every week, we get two to three free reading books or school books. The school environment in Korea is fairly safe despite the depiction of bullying in dramas and Educational Broadcasting System aka EBS airs educational TV programs for children. 

For health, the government provides all types of immunization services for children free. Benefits are available for both pregnant women and mothers with children up to age 2. There are also free general health checkups every three months as well as free dental visits for children. Medical costs here are cheap because of national health insurance.

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds like orphans receive a monthly living allowance, though I don't know the amounts. So it's very rare to see children beg on the streets. Many (but not all) benefits for children apply to both Koreans and expats.

How do Koreans view children?
Koreans are very friendly to children. My daughter is often greeted and receives snacks from Koreans. I once took shelter at a gas station because of heavy rain with my husband and Nazua, and someone who was filling up offered to drive us home. I think that if our daughter wasn't there, my husband and I would not have gotten that offer. 

Koreans also value a child's privacy; they never touch, take photos or record videos of random children without permission.

How do you feel as a mother raising her child in Korea?
I'm happy because of the many child-friendly facilities here. Free playgrounds and children's education and libraries, little to no street crime probably because of many surveillance cameras, friendly people and affordable medical facilities.

kalhong617@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.