Preschools need funding

A recent statistical bulletin published by the Ministry of Education shows there were 209,900 kindergartens nationwide in 2014, an increase of 11,300 on the previous year, and the gross rate of enrollment among preschool children reached 70.5 percent, an increase of three percentage points.

The tangible increase in both the absolute number of kindergartens and the gross enrollment rate is a reflection of progresses the country has achieved in promoting preschool education.

However, the bulletin also shows that the country's preschool education is excessively dependent on privately-run kindergartens. For example, of the 209,900 kindergartens, 56.6 percent are private, and these accommodate more kids than public ones. This shows greater efforts are needed to increase the fiscal input into public kindergartens and to raise the gross rate of enrollment among preschool children.