At present, the coverage of inclusive kindergartens and the proportion of public kindergartens in Xiqing district are increasing year-by-year. The total amount of preschool education resources has already met the needs of school-aged children. High-quality educational resources have also become an important factor in attracting high-level talents to settle in Xiqing.
In 2012, there were only 11 kindergartens in Xiqing district, including 5 public kindergartens and 6 private kindergartens; while in 2022, the total number of kindergartens in the district has grown to 110, 10 times that of 2012, including 32 public kindergartens, 57 inclusive private kindergartens, and 21 non-inclusive private kindergartens.
Students doing physical exercises [Photo/Wechat account: Tianjinxiqing]
To achieve this great change in preschool resources, Xiqing district implemented a series of actions over the past ten years.
Since 2015, Xiqing has included the construction, improvement and transformation of preschool education as part of local common welfare projects every year, and has effectively guaranteed project construction. In recent years, the local government has invested more than 300 million yuan (about $40 million) and built 54 kindergartens. A cumulative 92 million yuan has been invested to comprehensively improve the hardware conditions of kindergartens, laying a solid foundation for improving the quality and efficiency of preschool education. It has also focused on tapping the potential of vacant buildings, office buildings, commercial buildings and other spaces to expand kindergarten resources.
A kindergarten in Xiqing district [Photo/Wechat account: Tianjinxiqing]
Furthermore, Xiqing district has issued special rewards and subsidy policies, so as to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of social forces to participate in the construction of preschool education. In 2017 and 2019, the per student expenditure budget of public kindergartens was adjusted. The local education department provided an extra 3,000 yuan budget for each student per year. From 2017, public funds of 2,000 yuan per student were awarded to inclusive private kindergartens. From 2017 to 2021, a total of 89 million yuan has been granted to inclusive private kindergartens, and the rent subsidy from the local government for non-profit private kindergartens totalled 6.17 million yuan.
At present, Xiqing district has formed a pattern with which public kindergartens play the leading role, with inclusive private kindergartens developing simultaneously. The inclusive balance and standardization of preschool education are gradually emerging.