China will legislate to promote the popularization, inclusiveness, safety, and high-quality development of preschool education
Preschool education is an integral part of the national education system, an important social welfare undertaking, and is related to the healthy growth of millions of children. The draft of the Preschool Education Law was submitted for initial review at the 5th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress on the 28th. China will better promote the popularization, inclusiveness, safety, and high-quality development of preschool education through specialized legislation.
Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng introduced in his draft explanation to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress that in recent years, preschool education in China has developed rapidly. However, overall, it is still a weak link in the national education system, and the contradiction of unbalanced and insufficient development is still prominent. The problems of "difficulty in entering kindergarten" and "high admission cost" still exist, and there is still a certain gap between the expectations of the people.
The draft of the Preschool Education Law consists of eight chapters and 74 articles, including the positioning of preschool education, the improvement of planning and organizing mechanisms, the standardization of the implementation of preschool education, the strengthening of the construction of the teaching staff, the improvement of investment mechanisms, and the strengthening of supervision and management. In addition, the draft stipulates corresponding legal responsibilities for violations of this law by the government and its relevant departments, kindergartens and their staff.
The draft clearly states that preschool education refers to the care and education provided by kindergartens and other preschool education institutions for children aged three to before entering primary school. The country implements a preschool education system.
In response to the development of preschool education, the draft emphasizes that the development of preschool education should adhere to government leadership, be mainly organized by the government, vigorously develop inclusive preschool education resources, and guide and regulate the participation of social forces. The country is promoting the popularization of preschool education and building a public service system for preschool education that covers urban and rural areas, has a reasonable layout, and is inclusive of public welfare.
Regarding childcare and education, the draft proposes that kindergartens should prioritize the safety of preschool children. Preschool children entering kindergartens and other preschool education institutions for preschool education are not allowed to organize any form of examination or testing, except for necessary physical health checks. To prevent the primary school ization of childcare and educational activities, it is not allowed to teach curriculum content and adopt primary school education methods.
For kindergarten teachers, the draft not only proposes the necessary conditions and clarifies the seven types of situations that cannot be hired, but also strengthens the protection and development mechanism of benefits, stipulating that kindergarten teachers enjoy the same treatment as primary and secondary school teachers in terms of professional title evaluation and job appointment; Require the whole society to respect kindergarten teachers.