Peer-reviewed article
Promoting Equity in Access to Quality Early Childhood Education in China
Nirmala Rao, Yi Ting Yang, Yufen Su, Caroline Cohrssen ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This paper reviews China's government policies and progress in providing equitable access to quality early childhood education since 2010. The Chinese government views ECE as a public good and has implemented policies to bridge urban-rural disparities and allocate resources to disadvantaged groups. While significant policy progress and enrolment gains have been achieved, gaps persist between urban and rural areas in infrastructure, resourcing, enrolment rates, and teacher-child ratios.
Key points
- The Chinese state considers ECE a public good, as evidenced by policy changes and fiscal allocations to economically disadvantaged groups
- Policy implementation has focused on improved regulation and monitoring of services provided by both state and non-state actors
- Significant gaps persist between urban and rural areas regarding infrastructure, resourcing, gross enrolment rates, and teacher-child ratios
- The government has made dramatic gains in ECE access, demonstrating priority accorded to the sector
- Efforts to bridge urban-rural disparities have been a key feature of ECE policies
Limitations
This is a policy review paper that does not evaluate the effectiveness of specific interventions or measure child outcomes. It cannot tell us whether the policies have actually improved children's development or learning outcomes.
Abstract
This paper reviews the Chinese government's efforts and progress towards ensuring equitable access to quality early childhood education (ECE). It begins with an overview of the Chinese context and analysing the reasons for a policy focus on ECE in recent decades. Thereafter, from a historical perspective, it critically reviews policies pertaining to enhancing access to and the quality of ECE in China since 2010. Nationally representative data are used to document policy implementation. Our analyses of national policies and representative data suggest that the state considers ECE a public good. This is evident from policy changes, efforts to bridge urban-rural disparities, fiscal allocations to the most economically disadvantaged groups, and strategies to enhance the quality of ECE.A significant focus on policy implementation with improved regulation and monitoring of services provided by both state and non-state actors was found. However, it is evident that gaps persist between urban and rural areas regarding infrastructure and resourcing, gross enrolment rates, and teacher-child ratios. That stated, the momentum that has driven policy change and the dramatic gains demonstrates the priority accorded to ECE.