Country to cut costs of preschool education

China will exempt children from care and education fees in their final preschool year at public kindergartens starting from the upcoming autumn semester, according to a guideline issued on Tuesday.

The guideline, issued by the General Office of the State Council, China's Cabinet, said the amount waived is based on the government-approved standard fee for public kindergartens and does not include meal, boarding and other miscellaneous fees.

For children enrolled at private kindergartens, their care and education fees will be reduced by an amount equivalent to comparable local public kindergartens. Private kindergartens may still charge the difference if their fees exceed this waiver level, the guideline said.

The government will provide subsidies to both public and private kindergartens to cover the shortfall in revenue resulting from the fee waivers. Subsidy amounts will be determined based on the number of children benefiting from the policy and the fee levels of each local kindergarten, it said.

Local authorities should make timely allocation of funds for the fee waivers to ensure that the normal operation of kindergartens is not affected and teachers' salaries do not fall into arrears due to the policy, the guideline added.

Preschool education generally spans three years in China for children ages 3 to 6.

According to the Ministry of Education, as of the end of last year, China had 253,300 kindergartens, 21,100 fewer from 2023, and 35.84 million kindergarten students, down 5.09 million compared with 2023.

Meanwhile, the country registered 9.54 million newborn babies last year, significantly lower than the peak of 17.86 million newborns recorded in 2016, according to government data.

Chen Zhiwen, a member of the Chinese Society of Educational Development Strategy, said the plummeting number of newborn babies and kindergarten students likely prompted the urgency to issue the new policy.

China has already increased its investment in preschool education by building more affordable kindergartens in recent years, so the new policy is consistent with government efforts to strengthen preschool education, which is still a weak link in the country's overall education system, he said.

This year's Government Work Report has stipulated a gradual expansion of free preschool education. The Law of Preschool Education, which took effect on June 1, stipulates that regions with means should gradually start implementing the free preschool education policy.

Wang Jian, director of the institute of education finance research at China National Academy of Educational Sciences, told China National Radio website that as the economy develops and the cost of living rises, parenting costs — particularly preschool education expenses — are creating financial pressure for many families, especially low-income households.

Waiving preschool education fees will directly ease the financial burden of child-rearing for many families, Wang said.

However, the implementation of the policy will require large investments, which is why most countries and regions implement such a policy incrementally, he said.

Given the large number of kindergarten students, full coverage of preschool education would significantly strain public finance, as well as affect the quality of education, so a phased implementation is more practical, he added.

Xiong Bingqi, director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said it is important that local governments do not try to cover the fee waiver with investments made under other heads, in order to ensure that funds for teacher's salaries and kindergarten infrastructure do not decrease.