Four Highlights of the Draft Preschool Education Law
2023-08-31
On August 28th, the draft of the Preschool Education Law was submitted for initial review at the 5th meeting of the 14th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. China has passed specialized legislation to promote the popularization, inclusiveness, safety, and high-quality development of preschool education. What are the highlights of this draft law? Point 1: Clarify the definition of the draft positioning of preschool education, which refers to the care and education implemented by preschool education institutions such as kindergartens for children aged 3 to before entering primary school; Emphasizing that preschool education is an integral part of the national education system and an important social welfare undertaking. Zhang Zhiyong, director of the Education Situation Survey Center, a national high-end think tank at Beijing Normal University, believes that the draft highlights the foundational significance of preschool education in improving the quality of the entire nation, clarifies the public welfare attribute of preschool education, and will create better conditions for children's healthy growth. The draft also proposes that the country promote the popularization of preschool education and build a public service system for preschool education that covers urban and rural areas, has a reasonable layout, and is inclusive of public welfare. Professor Zhan Zhongle from the School of Law at Peking University stated that the draft clarifies the responsibilities of governments and relevant departments at all levels, further implementing the public welfare of preschool education, which is of great significance for safeguarding the right of eligible children to receive preschool education. Point 2: Strengthen government responsibility and curb excessive profit seeking. The draft clearly states that people's governments at all levels should fulfill their responsibilities in accordance with the law, allocate resources reasonably, and narrow the gap in the development of preschool education between urban and rural areas and regions. All school-age children should have the same opportunity to enter kindergartens of comparable quality, "said Chu Chaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences. The government should play a minimum role in the development of preschool education, ensuring that the children who lack the most admission conditions can enjoy the same public preschool education. The draft stipulates that no unit or individual shall use fiscal funds, state-owned assets, collective assets, or donated assets to establish or support the establishment of profit-making private kindergartens; Social capital shall not control public kindergartens or non-profit private kindergartens through mergers and acquisitions, agreement control, or other means. These regulations reflect a clear public policy direction for preschool education, which aims to curb the commercialization and marketization trend of preschool education, highlight and strengthen government responsibilities, and strengthen financial investment and teacher team construction in preschool education. The third point is to prioritize the protection of preschool children's safety. The draft proposes that kindergartens have a responsibility to protect the personal safety of preschool children during their stay in the kindergarten, and should prioritize the protection of preschool children's safety. Children aged 3 to 6 lack self-protection ability, and families, kindergartens, communities, and others must work together to create a safe environment for childcare and education, "said Liu Mingxia, executive director of Chengzhi Kindergarten, a primary school affiliated with Tsinghua University. In terms of education, the draft clearly states that kindergartens should have games as their basic activities. To prevent the primary education of childcare and educational activities, it is not allowed to teach primary school curriculum content or adopt primary education methods. These regulations are a strong response to the tendency towards primary education in the practice of kindergarten care education. "Zhan Zhongle said that in response to issues such as low quality of care education in preschool education practice, the draft regulates preschool education activities from the legislative level, which is conducive to ensuring and improving the quality of preschool education. Proposing a draft to strengthen the construction of the faculty and staff team in point four
Edit:Zhou Shu Responsible editor:Wang Chen
Source:people.cn
Special statement: if the pictures and texts reproduced or quoted on this site infringe your legitimate rights and interests, please contact this site, and this site will correct and delete them in time. For copyright issues and website cooperation, please contact through outlook new era email:lwxsd@liaowanghn.com