Free Early Childhood Education in Rural China: A Case Study of Ningshan

Abstract

The education authority of Ningshan County in China’s Shaanxi Province launched the 3-year free early childhood education (ece) policy in 2011, which includes waiving the tuition fees, enhancing children’s nutrition, and improving the facilities and administration of kindergartens. Such efforts have successfully increased the enrollment rate of ece which grew from 53.75% in 2009 to 92.4% in 2013. In this study, a field investigation of the implementation of the free ece policy in Ningshan County was carried out, and its impacts and implications for authorities to revise the policy were discussed. The authors urge local governments to take into account the local economic and social contexts in the formulation of free ece policies so that the policies in rural China could be feasible and sustainable.

The State Council of China 1 has stated that early childhood education is a crucial part of the national education system and an important part of the social welfare. Free ece shall provide basic and quality education for all children across their school ages. However, children from rural families are forced to relinquish their rights to receive ece due to poverty and this sparks an urgent need for local authorities to revise the existing education policy. Since 2011, a group of financially sound counties in China, such as Fugu County in Shaanxi, Changzhi County in Shanxi, and Shaoxin County in Zhejiang, have initiated their policy-making procedure to extend their existing free education programs to cover ece, making the free ece a concern of the whole society.

In the meantime, Ningshan—a financially distressed county surrounded by the Qinling Mountains, covered by the national poverty alleviating program as its public revenue merely reached rmb 30.75 million in 2010, with an income per capita of only rmb 3,800 for its rural population—led the way for all economically underdeveloped counties in the whole province to initiate a 15-year free education program in the fall of 2011 to demonstrate the efforts and determination of the local government to fulfill its commitment on education. Beyond the scope of the 9-year compulsory education, the program also covers 3 years of high-school education and 3 years of ece. 2 In the midst of its financial distress, the courageous educational initiative of Ningshan makes it a prominent model in terms of educational administration and social significance compared with other rural areas in China—Fugu, Changzhi, and Shaoxing.

That being said, we conducted in-depth investigations on the background, content, implementation, and performance of the 3-year free ece program in Ningshan. The experiences of the local authorities and the difficulties they encountered in the implementation of the program were examined to provide insights and implications for future similar policy implementation.

The Case of Ningshan

Returned Migratory Labor

The global economic crisis in 2008 forced a considerable number of migratory workers to return to their home in Ningshan. Statistics revealed that out of the 1,258 returned workers that year, 1,021 (81% of the entire returned labor force) had no high-school diploma. This data frustrated the then Party Committee Secretary, Chen Lun Bao. Mr. Chen said, “These appalling data warned us that the uneducated and insufficiently educated labor force could no longer serve the great course of economic modernization. Splendid new plazas and buildings cannot bring hope to impoverished counties like ours. The only thing we can count on is education.” 3 The impoverished community had learned nothing about the importance of education. Neither was there any qualified labor force to expand the local economy, hence further aggravating the poverty of the local community. Being upset by this dim prospect, and given that the local education system had been stuck in a vicious cycle for years, the county used 6 months to design and launch its 12-year free education project.

Meanwhile, the local government also realized that their grand design of an economically robust county must be built by a strong and educated labor force provided by a highly efficient and balanced education system. They chose to add on three-year free early childhood education, and made all kinds of effort to give the local children an equal education opportunity. Shortly afterward, the 12-year free education system was then extended to cover 15 years, from kindergarten to high-school. In a sense, it was the returned migratory labor force that kicked off this free education system.

Governmental Support to ece

In July 2010, the Central Committee of ccp and the State Council issued the National Plan for Medium and Long-Term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020) to present the goals of early childhood education at the national level. The Plan specified the government’s roles and responsibilities in the development of early childhood education in rural areas. Knowing the shortage of kindergartens and the unbearable cost of nursery to parents, the State Council issued the Opinions of the State Council on the Development of Early childhood Education which further specified the responsibilities and functions of the governments at all levels with regard to the development of education.

From December 2010 to September 2011, the Provincial Government of Shaanxi and the Municipal Government of Ankang successively issued the Opinions of General Office of Provincial Government of Shaanxi on Development of Early childhood Education, the Notice of General Office of Provincial Government of Shaanxi on Publication of the Plan for 3-Year Free Early Childhood Education Project (2011-2013), the Notice of General Office of Municipal Government of Ankang on Publication of the Plan for 3-Year Free Early Childhood Education Project (2011-2013), and the Notice of General Office of Municipal Government of Ankang on Practice of 1-Year Free Early Childhood Education. All these required free ece for all children residing in the county 1 year before entering primary school, and specified the requirements on the coverage, eligibility, funding modes, and implementation methods, all of which provided powerful policy support for the 3-year free ece to be substantiated in Ningshan.

Channeling of Resources by the Local Government

In Ningshan, education takes up almost 40% of its local revenue every year, far beyond the national average of 12.5%. An annual education fund of rmb 13 million has been spent on its free early childhood and high school education, the Student Nutrition Project, and the Egg and Milk Project, among other initiatives. This huge chunk of educational expenditure puts a big question mark to the sustainability of these policies in this financially distressed county at the national level.

The Ningshan people, however, are quite confident on their budget for the 3-year free ece. In the past few years, the local economy has witnessed a boost in eco-tourism, green mining, and health food industries—with 15 tourism projects initiated and funded by 16 enterprises in and outside of Shanxi Province, totaling the investment to rmb 7 billion, along with an increasing amount of transfer payments from superior financial administrations. The economic growth has pushed the local revenue to hike at the rate of 30% in average. The local administrations specified that at least half of its annual financial increment and 40% of the transferred rural taxation from the central government are to be invested in education, along with the income from urban education surcharges and the funds squeezed from the operation fees of the local government in its austerity campaign. Besides, resources are also collected from multiple sources, such as government construction funding, fund raising, the Red Cross, the Chinese Welfare Lottery, donations, fiscal arrangements, and kindergarten fund-raising campaigns. With the demographic statistics presenting a declining birth rate in China, that the number of newborn in the whole county would be about 500 per year, children who are eligible to enjoy the 3-year free ece would be no more than 1,500, which is roughly the total number of enrolled kindergarten children in 2012. Considering the rapid growth of the local economy and the declining birth rate, the pressure on free education is in fact under control.

For most counties in China, the principle barrier to the implementation of the 3-year free early childhood education is not the budget, but the resolution and commitment on education. As Mr. Zou Chengyan, incumbent Secretary of the Party Committee of Ningshan, claimed, “The 15-year free education is not just an act of a whim or a political slogan. It is our dream. It is the hope of our economy. Poverty was never an excuse for the insufficient input on education. A functioning government shall unyieldingly find a way through.” 4

It is definitely not an exaggeration to refer to the local government of Ningshan as the most reliable support to the future of the county. Believing in the power of education to alleviate the entire family out of poverty, the local government saved its last few nickels on education to provide a powerful support for the sustaining of the 3-year free early childhood education.

The Implementation of Free ece Policy

On 30th August, 2011, the local government of Ningshan issued the Notice of General Office of People’s Government of Ningshan on Publication of the 3-Year Free Early Childhood Education Guidelines, announcing the initiation of the 3-year free early childhood education in all public and civilian-run kindergartens in Ningshan. Details are covered below.

Abatement and Exemption of Tuition Fees

The charging standard for public kindergartens approved by the Bureau of Commodity Price of Ningshan stated that the annual nursery and tuition fee is rmb 900 for the 3-year ece (i.e. rmb 90 per month), which has been abated completely for all 3- to 6-year-olds who are enrolled at public kindergartens and pre-school classes in primary schools, and those enrolled at civilian-run kindergartens approved by the educational administrations. 5

With their county residential registrations, children may register at kindergartens and pre-school classes in primary schools. The roster and residential registrations of the qualified children will be submitted by the kindergartens and schools to the county’s Education and Sports Administration within 5 days after the commencement of school for archiving. The abated sum will be assigned by the local Bureau of Finance to the relevant kindergartens and schools directly after being verified by the Accounting Department of the Education and Sports Administration and the Department of Public Institute Finance of the local Bureau of Finance. 6

Investigators learned that this abatement policy was brought about by three intensive discussions and revisions made by the county’s educational administration panel and the standing committees of the local government and the local Party Committee, while gathering opinions from kindergarten principals, teachers, and parents. The revised issues include: 1) extending the 1-year free early childhood education specified by the provincial and municipal governments to 3 years; 2) abolishing the limitation of residential-registration policy in Ningshan so that school-age children of families not registered in Ningshan could also enjoy free ece; 3) Strengthening the quality review of kindergartens, and providing no support to children below the age of 3 and those without proper residential registration, in order to discourage parents from enrolling their children at kindergartens too early; 4) raising the standard of abatement from that of the Class ii full-time public kindergartens (rmb 700 of nursery and tutoring charge per kid per year) adopted by the provincial and the municipal governments to that of the Class ii full-time public kindergartens (rmb 900 per kid per year).

As seen from Table 1, since the fall of 2011 when the abatement policy was first initiated, the kindergarten and the 3-year early childhood enrollment had shown a prominent increase compared with those of 2009 and 2010. The increase signalled the great success of the policy in making kindergartens accessible for all children, granting every child an equal opportunity of education.

Advancing Children’s Nutrition

The policy required a nutrition subsidy of rmb 3 per child per day (rmb 750 per 250-day school year) for 1) all children on rural residence registrations enrolled at kindergartens and pre-school classes in primary schools in the urban area; 2) children from urban families receiving low-income subsidies; and 3) all rural children of the right age for kindergarten, as an effort to improve children’s nutrition, and to enhance their physical and mental health.

Kindergartens and primary schools reported to the Bureau of Finance of the county the number of children qualified to receive the subsidies, the Bureau then passed down the relevant information and subsidies to the school canteens that served the children nutritious diets, which would include eggs, milk, meat, vegetables, fruits, as well as breakfasts, desserts, extra meals, and nutritional supplements.

table 1

Statistics on kindergarten attendance, enrollment and abated nursery and tutoring charges

Source: The Education and Sports Administration of Ningshan.

By the spring of 2010, all children of the county receiving the 3-year ece were covered by the Egg & Milk Project. They enjoyed a financial subsidy of rmb 1.50 each day, parents paid rmb 0.50, for each school year of 250 days. In the spring of 2012, the school year was calculated on a basis of 200 days with the financial subsidy of each child increased to rmb 2.50 per child per day. Meanwhile, another project- Student Nutrition Project was also initiated to gradually cover all children on rural residence registrations enrolled at kindergartens and pre-school classes in primary schools in the urban area, children from urban families receiving low-income subsidies and all rural children of the right age for kindergarten, with a subsidy of rmb 3 per child per day for each school year of 200 days. In the autumn of 2013, the two projects were integrated by the central and the provincial governments and the financial subsidy for each eligible child in a school year of 200 days was raised to rmb 4. Table 2 shows the expenditures per semester and the number of subsidized children.

table 2

Statistics on child-nutrition improvement expenditures & number of subsidized children

Source: The Education and Sports Administration of Ningshan.

The nutrition improvement project was welcomed by kindergartens and parents. Statistics revealed that the retardation and underweight rates of the local children was reduced by 30% and 16% respectively, suggesting a noticeable improvement in the children’s physical conditions.

Updating the Kindergartens’ Facilities

In addition, the county is also planning to build new public kindergartens and to expand the existing ones. Village kindergartens will be established in primary school buildings that are deserted due to the cancellation or merging of their higher classes. The public and local law enforcement agencies work collaboratively to establish a diversified ece system comprising public and civilian-run kindergartens.

In March 2011, there were only 6 kindergartens—2 public and 4 civilian-run, with facilities far from being adequate to cater for the needs of the 3-year free ece. Till the fall of 2013, 14 standardized public kindergartens have been built or are under construction (see Table 3). Out of the 12 towns in the county, 11 towns have built a standardized central kindergarten, forming a preliminary ece system with the coverage at the county, town and village levels. The twelfth town, Xinchang, has a population of about 1000 residents, with an estimated birth rate of 7%. Only about 20 children were eligible for the 3-year ece, and since their parents prefer to enroll them at the kindergartens in the nearby towns of Luxi and Xiyuan, it is not necessary to build a standardized kindergarten in Xinchang.

table 3

Construction profile of kindergartens of towns in Ningshan

Source: The Education and Sports Administration of Ningshan.

The Five-Unification Policy was carried out for the construction and refurbishment of kindergartens in Ningshan, which unified the planning, design, and biding of kindergartens, as well as the purchasing of teaching tools. The county spent an estimated amount of rmb 4.73, 17 and 29.8 million in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. Moreover, an rmb 1 million early childhood development fund was granted by the treasury of the county in 2011 to finance the construction of rural kindergartens, while a rmb 100,000 special fund was raised to support the civilian-run kindergartens. The county has since then witnessed a remarkable improvement in the infrastructure of ece, which provided a powerful support for sustaining the 3-year free ece.

Strengthening Kindergartens’ Administration

While the above problems are concerned with the financial input from the local government, the most important role the government must play in the implementation of the 3-year free ece policy is to be a supervisor on ece affairs. With an aim to enhance the quality of ece, the policy must be put under a scientifically robust administration system to control the amount and usage of resources 7 (Li & Wang, this issue).The local government thus prepared detailed measures to improve the quality of childcare and education, to strengthen the comprehensive administration and leadership, and to conduct kindergarten supervision. These measures were illustrated in a series of documents—Opinions of Education & Sports Administration of Ningshan on Reinforcing the Study on Early Childhood Education, Coupled Alleviation Program for Kindergartens in Ningshan, Tentative Assessment Plan for Nursery and Tutoring Quality of Kindergartens in Ningshan, Campus Police Administration Plan for Primary and Middle Schools in Ningshan, Notice of People’s Government of Ningshan on Establishment of the Early Childhood Education Leading Panel of Ningshan, Opinions of the Organization Department of ccp Ningshan Committee, the Education and Sports Administration of Ningshan and the Education Supervision Office of the People’s Government of Ningshan on Practice of Accountability System for Education-Prioritized Development.

According to the incomplete statistics, the county has issued over 10 policies to strengthen the ece administration in the past 3 years. Although they might be unable to cover all the details, the actions taken were a sure sign of the commitment of the local government and the Party Committee on the administration of ece affairs to foster the quality and progression of the 3-year free ece.

The Reflection and Implications

The implementation of the 3-year free ece in Ningshan County has been a great success and was appreciated by the participating kindergartens, parents, and the media. However, this successful attempt also faces a number of controversies, especially in terms of its application, which require further discussions for solutions.

Defining the Subsidization Standards

In Ningshan, children enrolled at costly civilian-run kindergartens are given the same amount of subsidy as their public kindergarten counterparts, and parents are required to fill the expenditure gap. Tristar, the largest civilian-run kindergarten in Ningshan, requires a tuition fee of rmb 2000 from each child each year. With only rmb 900 government subsidy, parents must pay the remaining rmb 1100. As a result, many parents turn to the all-free and better-equipped public kindergartens, making the only public kindergarten, the County’s Kindergarten, overcrowded. This leaves the kindergarten with no option but to change all the usable rooms into classrooms, and to open a new institute to cater for the influx of children. The enrollment of Tristar, in the meantime, dropped from 264 to 144 children.

Also in Shaanxi Province, the local government of Fugu County is more confident in the provision of a genuine free ece for all children enrolled at both types of kindergartens, which charge parents nothing except for the food they provide for the children. These kindergartens are subsidized by the local revenue in the following manner—Children enrolled at public kindergartens receive rmb 70 per month per capita; while the subsidies for civilian-run kindergartens are made at four levels, that is, 1) kindergarten children receive a subsidy of rmb 256; 2) kindergarten children receive a subsidy of rmb 240; 3) kindergarten children receive a subsidy of rmb 208; and lastly 4) kindergarten children receive a subsidy of rmb 176.

The tricky question is whether to generalize the public kindergartens subsidizing standard to all kindergartens, including the civilian-run ones, or to design differentiated subsidizing standards for different levels of kindergartens after being approved by the Commodity Price Authority. We believe given the insufficient public resources to accommodate the needs of the increasing number of kindergarten-age children, instead of constructing new public kindergartens, it would be wise for the local government to determine a distinctive subsidization standard for the civilian-run kindergartens and to increase the government financial support to them, so as to lessen parents’ childcare and tuition burden and to enable kindergarten-age children to receive education in a nearby kindergarten. This approach could also help the local government to monitor the administration and operation of the civilian-run kindergartens.

Categorized Subsidization for Kindergartens

After the initiation of the free ece policy in Ningshan, the county’s public kindergarten received a construction fund of around rmb 1 million from the local government, while Tristar received only a government fund of rmb 130,000 for the purchase of toys, teaching aids, and equipment. This unfair treatment of the two types of kindergartens highlights the predicament of the civilian-run kindergartens. Civilian-run kindergartens can hardly compete with public kindergartens which were fueled with teachers of higher qualification, lower service fees, and more government subsidies for various reasons, e.g. construction, renovation and expansion.

We believe a better solution is to gather the limited financial subsidy given to the civilian-run kindergartens by means of government purchase, tax abatement, substitution of subsidies with rewards, and transferring experienced teachers from public kindergartens to the civilian-run ones. Instead of channeling large amount of government revenue to the construction of public kindergartens and the enhancement of the teaching force and equipment in public kindergartens, more focus should be given to the organization and affordability of the civilian-run kindergartens, so as to speed up the development of ece for rural children under the guidance and resources of the government, and with the support of the entire society.

Construction of the Early Childhood Teaching Force

With insufficient qualified kindergarten teachers and an increasing number of children waiting to receive the 3-year free ece, the local government of Ningshan has started to transfer the surplus teachers from primary and middle schools to kindergartens, and has also established a comprehensive training system for all 15 principals and 220 kindergarten teachers as part of a continuing training program for the primary and middle school teachers in the county. The local government also makes sure that all kindergarten teachers on the government payroll receive a salary at or above the salary level of the local civil servants, in addition to the merit pay which is yet to be validated.

In spite of all the efforts of the Ningshan government, the kindergarten teaching force is still riddled with problems. Teachers serving the public kindergartens can hardly get their names on the government payroll, and those working for civilian-run kindergartens complain about their low salaries. As most of the new public kindergartens in Ningshan are built inside primary schools, they share the same principals or directors as their corresponding primary schools, and the kindergarten teaching force is mainly compiled of the surplus primary school teachers who have no knowledge about the developmental needs and abilities of kindergarteners. The kindergarten classes, moreover, do not follow the standard kindergarten staff pattern of two teachers and one nurse. All these problems are detrimental to the quality of the ece programme.

The National Plan for Medium and Long-Term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020) states in Section iv that the strengthening of the teaching force remains the highest priority amongst all education-related measures, and this highlighted the critical role of teachers in the development of education. Considering this, we realize that more efforts should be taken in strengthening the management of the kindergarten teaching force, to re-verify the payroll of public kindergartens, to secure the salary of civilian-run kindergarten teachers, to establish the professional title evaluation and recruitment mechanism, to modify the social security policies, and to organize occupational training programs, in order to build a work force of dignified, professional, balanced, engaged and dedicated kindergarten teachers.

The 3-year free ece program of Ningshan has made it possible for all local children of the right age to be enrolled at kindergartens, which is definitely a remarkable achievement for education equality. The local governments are working hard on implementing policies to improve the quality and coverage of the free ece system in rural areas. The local governments should consult and gather opinions from kindergarten principals, teachers, and parents on educational matters, and take into account the local social, economic, and educational contexts during policy-making, so that formulated policies will be effective and welcomed by all levels of society.