Some childcare institutions rarely enroll children under 2 years old, with high requirements and high costs. Teachers | children | childcare

The younger children are, the higher the requirements for the professional quality of teachers, and the higher the cost of hiring teachers

Some childcare institutions rarely admit children under two years old

"We do need someone else to take care of our child, and we have also learned about childcare services, but the child is too young and we are always afraid that he will be bullied in class. Moreover, picking up and dropping off the child also takes time, and in the end, it doesn't work out." Recently, Wang Dongxu, who lives in Chaoyang District, Beijing, told reporters that he has a baby under 3 years old. Due to the busy work schedule of the couple and the inability of both parents to help take care of him, Wang Dongxu can only pay a high price to hire a caregiver.

The reporter found in the interview that there are many families of young children who share the same needs and concerns as Wang Dongxu, but many families are hesitant towards social childcare institutions for various reasons. How to solve the problem of childcare and improve the quality of social childcare institutions, so that parents can choose with confidence?

Parents have little understanding and are not confident about childcare institutions

On the afternoon of June 13th, the reporter arrived at the Haibao Day Care Center located in Haidian District, Beijing. At this moment, a group of children over two years old are running and playing on the small playground, playing games with the teachers. Lang Lang's singing echoed throughout the entire daycare center from the second floor classroom.

"At present, we have two classes with a total of 40 students, and we are planning to open another small class with 20 students in September this year," Yuan Xiaoying, a teacher at the daycare center, told reporters.

But not every childcare institution can recruit so many children. Liu Fang, a teacher at Qingqingteng Kindergarten in Daxing District, Beijing, said that there are currently around 200 children in her kindergarten. However, due to safety, family upbringing mode, and operating costs, only 9 children are admitted to daycare.

According to statistics from the National Health Commission, as of June 2023, there were over 26000 childcare institutions registered on the National Health Commission Information Disclosure Platform nationwide.

Yuan Xiaoying introduced that some parents consult with institutions before childcare, and the questions raised by parents are diverse. It can be seen that many parents still have little understanding of childcare institutions and are not at ease.

In order to reassure parents, childcare institutions are also trying to find ways. Yuan Xiaoying presented an information feedback form to the reporter, which detailed the child's diet, sleep, physical condition, activity status, and teacher comments. The daycare center where she works sends feedback forms for each child to parents every day. "We have also established a one-on-one family WeChat group for each child, sending them daily photos and videos of their child in the daycare center so that they can keep track of their child's situation in a timely manner."

Yang Fan, Director of the Department of Demography at Renmin University of China and Researcher at the Population and Development Research Center, stated in an interview with Workers' Daily that currently, the parenting model for children in China tends to be more focused on family care, and parents are often skeptical about the safety and scientific nature of childcare institutions.

"The high turnover of employees in childcare institutions, the lack of a professional title evaluation system, and many childcare institutions directly copying foreign childcare systems without localization are all problems that are currently being faced," Yang Fan said.

Some kindergartens only admit 2-3 year old children

In May of this year, the General Office of the Beijing Municipal Government issued the "Three Year Action Plan for the Construction of the Beijing Childcare Service System", which mentioned that in order to enrich diversified supply, effectively meet social childcare needs, and make reasonable use of existing preschool education resources, while fully meeting the preschool education needs of children aged 3-6, it encourages and supports kindergartens with conditions to open daycare classes and enroll infants and young children aged 2-3.

Liu Fang stated that the younger a child is, the more care they need. Considering factors such as child safety, family upbringing models, and operating costs, some kindergartens only enroll 2-3 year old children when providing daycare. The reporter interviewed multiple childcare institutions and learned that few institutions are willing to accept children under the age of two.

"The childcare of children aged 0 to 2 requires teachers with strong professional skills. Therefore, an effective evaluation system for practitioners should be established, emphasizing the cultivation of relevant talents and establishing a system for selecting relevant professional titles." Yang Fan told reporters.

According to the "Standards for Setting up Childcare Institutions" issued by the National Health Commission, childcare institutions generally set up three types of classes: infant class, preschool class, and preschool class. The ratio of caregivers to infants and young children should not be lower than 1:3 in the infant class, 1:5 in the preschool class, and 1:7 in the preschool class.

"In other words, if a baby class is to be opened, at least 3 teachers are needed to care for 9 children. The younger the children are, the higher the requirements for the professional quality of the teachers, and the higher the cost of hiring teachers." Liu Fang said that 3 teachers can fully open a daycare class to take care of nearly 20 children around two years old. For daycare institutions, the cost is lower and the benefits are higher.

In addition, some social childcare institutions have stated that carrying out childcare services also incurs high initial investment costs. Taking Haibao Day Care Center as an example, classroom renovation and construction began in September 2021, obtained a business license in March 2022, and completed renovation and relevant institutional registration in April. The initial investment in manpower, material resources, and other expenses reached nearly one million yuan. In order to recover costs as soon as possible, some childcare institutions often charge higher fees, which also makes many parents with childcare needs hesitate.

Multiple parties need to work together to support the development of childcare services

According to survey data released by the National Health Commission, in 2022, there were approximately 32 million infants and young children aged 0-3 in China, with over one-third of households having childcare needs, and this proportion exceeds two-thirds in first tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The relevant person in charge of the National Health Commission stated that the main problems currently facing childcare services in China are insufficient effective supply of inclusive childcare services and high prices.

Yang Fan said, "At present, the development of the childcare industry also faces some problems, such as inaccurate overall planning and uneven resource allocation. In many regions, childcare numbers are directly divided based on population, and a more scientific method of division should be based on the number of children under 3 years old." She suggested that social childcare institutions are still in an emerging development state, and support from policies and relevant funds is also necessary.

In recent years, many places have successively introduced multiple measures to support the development of childcare institutions and meet the needs of family childcare. For example, Beijing has proposed that by 2025, there should be 4.5 childcare facilities for infants and young children under the age of 3 per thousand people in Beijing, with universal childcare facilities accounting for no less than 60%. By offering daycare classes in kindergartens and transforming community run kindergartens, no less than 30000 new inclusive childcare programs will be added.