Summary

Chinese officials have announced plans to quicken the pace of expanding both public and private kindergarten educations. National political advisor and former vice minister of education Liu Limin said that more efforts are needed to train more kindergarten teachers and to raise the salaries of these teachers.

Speaking on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress, Liu also said that the government aimed to clarify the responsibilities of different levels of government in the pre-school sector.

Earlier in January, Chinese Minister of Education Chen Baosheng committed to increasing public spending and support for preschool education, including both direct spending on state-run kindergartens and subsidies for private institutions. Chen said that particular attention would be paid towards public institutions in rural and less -developed regions, as well as to areas where demand has increased due to the relaxation of China’s birth control policy. In the private sector, the government aims to encourage those kindergartens providing affordable services.

At the same time Chen promised to tighten supervision of kindergartens to prevent malpractice, in the wake of recent child abuse scandals.

A report from the Education Policy Center of Southwest University shows that with China's implementation of the two-child policy in 2016, the demand for preschool education will see a sharp increase starting from 2019 and reach its peak in 2021.

Analysis by Kevin Prest

Pre-school enrolment in China now stands at around 80 per cent, substantially higher than 51 per cent in 2009 but still below the government’s 85 per cent target for 2020. A shortage of trained pre-school teachers has been blamed for the current shortage of kindergartens.

Private investment in pre-school education is highly encouraged, while there is a chance that the expansion in pre-school teacher numbers may lead to increased teacher training opportunities in this field.

Sources:

1. Liu Limin’s Press Conference at the Two Sessions (China Daily): http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201803/12/WS5aa5bbdca3106e7dcc140eb9.html

2. Minister Chen Baosheng’s remarks (Xinhua): http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-01/23/c_136918398.htm