Beijing, 4 Apr (Xinhua) -- Question: The "small kindergarten" class of kindergartens has arrived, how is the pilot project made in various localities?

Xinhua News Agency reporters Zhao Wanwei, Wu Zhendong, Wu Xiaoying

The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Optimizing Fertility Policies and Promoting Long-term Balanced Population Development, issued in July 2021, proposes to encourage and support kindergartens with conditions to enroll children aged 7 to 2. The reporter recently visited Beijing, Shanghai, Sichuan and other places to learn that in the past two years, kindergartens in many places have opened "small nursery classes" pilots, and more and more children have achieved early admission to kindergartens, effectively alleviating the parenting pressure of dual-income families.

However, at the same time, the reporter's interview found that the problems of unclear standards for kindergartens in some areas and insufficient teachers still need to be solved, and the construction of an inclusive and diversified childcare service system is still in the exploratory stage.

"Little nursery classes" have opened and the enrollment age has been lowered

Beijing Daxing District Huize Kindergarten is one of the pilot units of kindergarten kindergartens in Beijing, and two kindergartens have been opened. At 8:5 a.m., two-year-old Tintin was escorted to kindergarten by his parents. His day begins with breakfast and will spend the day playing games, outdoors, nappings and other activities until he leaves at <> p.m.

"Each class has 15 children and 4 full-time teachers." Niu Fangyuan, director of Huize Daxing Garden, said that the children in the kindergarten are young, and the work of the kindergarten is half care and half is the cultivation of rules. With the support of the local education commission, the kindergarten has carried out teacher retraining to adapt teachers to the physical and mental needs of young children.

In Shanghai Daning International No. 30 Kindergarten, kindergarten children and kindergarten children adopt the mode of mixed-age class arrangement to carry out games and sports together. The reporter saw in the park that the <>-month-old Mingming was wearing rain boots playing a game of sand cement, turning sand into mud with his friends, and having fun.

"Parents have a great demand for childcare, and the enrollment season for nursery classes is hot every year." Lin Li, director of the kindergarten in the east of Yanchang Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, said that as one of the earliest kindergartens in the district, it has increased from one class at the opening of the kindergarten to 1 kindergartens in three classes today, and more childcare places are welcomed by parents.

In Sichuan, kindergartens run mostly by private kindergartens, state-owned enterprises or universities. Qu Ronghua, director of the Jindian Kindergarten in Bazhong City, told reporters that the kindergarten has built a total of 10 private kindergartens in Bazhong City, of which 4 kindergartens have opened nursery classes, and the enrollment age has been moved down to 1 and a half years old.

Compared with childcare institutions, kindergartens are fully equipped, have large venues, stable teachers, and parents are more at ease. "After the downward extension of enrollment, children can grow up in a stable environment from the age of two, which is of great help to dual-career families in need, especially families with older second and third children." Zhu Min, chief director of the Beijing 21st Century Experimental Kindergarten, said.

All localities are actively exploring pilot projects to accelerate the construction of an inclusive childcare service system

In the spring semester of this year, Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai, Zhejiang and other places have further clarified in the relevant documents of local childcare services, encouraging and supporting kindergartens with conditions to open nursery classes to enroll children aged 2 to 3. The reporter learned that the establishment of kindergartens in various places is still in the exploratory stage, and the problems of insufficient teachers still need to be solved.

-- The supply of childcare professionals is not sufficient. Respondents reported that the current teaching staff of childcare services is weak, and there is a shortage of talents with professional knowledge and skills in childcare. "Infant and child care personnel should be compound talents, in addition to nursing knowledge, they must also understand child psychology and other content." Gu Li, director of Shanghai Daning International No. 4 Kindergarten, pointed out that there is a problem that it is not difficult to recruit teachers and it is difficult to recruit good teachers.

The reporter learned that among the new higher vocational education majors in Beijing in 2023, many colleges and universities such as Beijing Labor and Social Security Vocational College and Beijing Vocational College of Science and Technology have added "infant and child care services and management" majors. Respondents hope that they can pay attention to the combination of theory and practice in running preschool education majors, and increase investment in post-service training to help more teachers improve their teaching concepts and related skills in a timely manner.

- Relevant standards need to be further clarified. The reporter's visit found that the development progress of childcare services in different cities and provinces is different, and there are problems of unclear standards in some places. In Shanghai, the tuition fee for public kindergartens is up to 700 yuan per month. In Beijing, Chengdu and other places, the average tuition standard of kindergarten exceeds 3000,8000 yuan per month, and the price of some pilot kindergartens can reach <>,<> yuan. Some respondents said that there are currently no clear standards for running parks, guidance prices for fees, etc., and look forward to further clarification.

"Our monthly education fee and living expenses for each student are 1800,2200 to <>,<> yuan." Qu Ronghua said that Pakistan and China belong to an economically underdeveloped area, and childcare fees cannot be charged too high. However, due to the investment in the renovation of the kindergarten room and the cost of teachers, it is difficult to further reduce the fee standard without policy support.

——The diversified childcare service system is still in the exploratory stage. The reporter learned that the construction of childcare service systems in various places is still in its infancy and exploration. In Shanghai, there are nearly 1000,60 kindergartens in the city, accounting for nearly 863% of the total number of kindergartens; There are 66 inclusive childcare service institutions, accounting for <>% of the total number of childcare service institutions, and a childcare service system with kindergarten nursery classes as the main body and inclusive resources as the leading force has been initially constructed.

In a number of important livelihood projects to be handled by Beijing in 2023, it is proposed to support qualified kindergartens to enroll 2-3-year-old children, and add 6000,2023 nursery places. The Three-Year Action Plan for the Construction of Beijing's Childcare Service System (2025-3) also proposes to encourage and support kindergartens with conditions to set up kindergartens on the basis of fully meeting the needs of preschool education for children aged 6 to <>.

Further improve childcare services and strengthen the supply of inclusive childcare places

The state encourages kindergartens to enroll children aged 2 to 3, which is a pragmatic move to serve parents. Respondents suggested that further improvement of childcare services should contribute to improving the quality of early childhood education and alleviating the pressure of childcare for young people.

On the basis of cost accounting, the guiding standards for inclusive childcare fees are further clarified. A Beijing principal suggested that assuming that the cost of inclusive childcare is 3000,4 yuan per person per month, if rent, water and electricity and other expenses are reduced, the monthly childcare income is just enough to pay the salaries of four teachers.

"Because nursery children are younger, the work of childcare requires more energy from teachers and childcare staff, and the return on investment is lower than that of kindergarten business." An investor in a state-owned educational institution suggested that the per capita funding should be appropriately tilted to help the development of inclusive childcare services.

Li Rong, head of the preschool education section of the Shanghai Jing'an District Education Bureau, suggested that in order to make the childcare services orderly and standardized, a pilot model can be adopted, giving the pilot kindergarten teaching and research, teacher training, kindergarten guidance and other functions, and playing a radiation role on the basis of forming a model.

Xi Lan, director of Shanghai Putuo District Childcare Service Guidance Center, suggested that before opening a childcare pilot, a professional team should be formed to guide childcare institutions to build compliant hardware facilities and environments. In daily work, it is necessary to establish evaluation mechanisms such as daily video surveillance, daily spot checks, credit evaluation announcements, and annual reviews.

Some respondents pointed out that the current childcare management involves multiple departments such as health and education, and the division of responsibilities of relevant departments is still not clear enough, and there is a lack of effective overall coordination mechanism.

Some respondents suggested that relevant departments should revitalize idle kindergarten resources, encourage public, private, private office assistance and other childcare operation models, improve the efficiency of childcare integration, strengthen the supply of inclusive childcare, and further meet the childcare needs of dual-income families. (Xinhuanet)