The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education revised and issued the “Management Measures for Funds Supporting Preschool Education Development” (hereinafter referred to as the “Measures”) on August 11, which came into effect immediately upon issuance.
The “Measures” state that the funds supporting preschool education development will be used to improve and expand high-quality preschool education. This includes addressing gaps in accessible resources, maintaining a public welfare-oriented approach, expanding the supply of inclusive resources, constructing and renovating public kindergartens, standardizing the operation of kindergartens established by government agencies, enterprises, institutions, and community organizations to provide inclusive services, and supporting the development of inclusive private kindergartens.
The funds will also be used to establish a sustainable financial investment mechanism for inclusive preschool education. This involves setting per-student funding standards for public kindergartens or per-student operational expenses, subsidies for inclusive private kindergartens, and implementing a dynamic adjustment mechanism. Additionally, the funds will support financial aid programs for children from economically disadvantaged families, orphans, and children with disabilities to ensure their access to preschool education.
The “Measures” emphasize that the funds should be applied to implement policies exempting childcare and education fees in preschool education. Eligible children attending public kindergartens will be exempted from childcare and education fees. For children attending private kindergartens approved by education authorities, corresponding reductions will be provided based on the exemption standards of local public kindergartens of the same type.
