City plans to improve preschool education

Shanghai will build a better preschool system with more affordable, high-quality and diversified kindergartens by 2035, according to a blueprint released by the city government for the development of preschool education over the next 15 years.

“The development of preschool education in the city is in imbalance and there is still space for improvement,” said Yan Huifen, director of the preschool division of the Shanghai Education Commission.

By 2035, all existing third-level kindergartens should be upgraded to the second level in the three-tier ranking system, says the blueprint.

Yan said there were some private kindergartens in the city at the third level, though she did not give numbers. 

The city aims to have 99 percent of children aged from 3 to 6 enrolled in kindergarten this year, compared with 97 percent at present, and to have 85 percent enrolled in affordable kindergartens, including public ones and private ones whose tuition is priced at standards set by the government.

Currently, Shanghai has 1,664 kindergartens, including 1,026, or 61.7 percent of the total, which are publicly run and hosting 71.5 percent of kindergarten students.

Yan said the city will build or expand around 90 new kindergartens in the next three years to meet the demand for preschool education.

To make the preschool education system more inclusive, the city is asking district governments to ensure affordable kindergartens are available near residential complexes.

It requires new kindergartens built near new residential complexes to be publicly run or non-profit. It also asks district authorities to turn existing for-profit kindergartens into public or non-profit ones, or buy places to ensure children can enjoy low-cost preschool education.

Meanwhile, it is also encouraging kindergartens to provide both teaching and nursing services. It requires that new kindergartens or those to be expanded must have both ordinary classes for children aged between 3 and 6 and nursing classes to take care of children aged under 3. While asking public kindergartens without nursing classes to try their best to set them up, the city is also encouraging private ones to offer affordable nursing services.

The blueprint says affordable kindergartens will be the mainstream, but the city will also encourage social forces to provide diversified preschool education for citizens.

The city also aims to improve kindergartens’ service quality, insisting on nursing and teaching children mainly via games, respecting individual characters of children, protect their curiosity and interest in learning and ensuring their happy and healthy growth, says the blueprint. It will explore practices combining education with healthcare, sports and culture, preventing myopia, dental caries and obesity among students and providing more opportunities for disabled children to enjoy normal early education.

To ensure a supply of qualified teachers for kindergartens, the city also plans to encourage local universities to set up preschool education majors or admit more students where there are already such majors.

Shanghai will also improve training for preschool education talent, enhancing teachers’ abilities in arts, sports and research and strengthening regulations on caregivers, nutritionists and security guards.

Meanwhile, the government will increase investment in preschool education to ensure its development and enhance monitoring kindergartens closely to ensure their service quality and security.