The Chinese government's investment in preschool education more than quintupled between 2008 and 2012, according to new Ministry of Education data.

 

Figures revealed in a Wednesday statement show that China's spending on preschool education in 2012 reached 74.8 billion CNY (11.9 billion USD), showing an average annual increase of 49 percent each year from the 13.3 billion CNY spent in 2008.

 

"The central and local governments regard preschool education as a key aspect in the national education plan, and greatly boosting preschool education is a major project for ensuring and improving people's livelihoods," the statement said.

 

According to the ministry, the ratio of government spending on preschool in all educational investment also rose from 1.3 percent in 2008 to 3.2 percent in 2012, an increase much higher than high school, college and vocational education.

 

The statement said that the heightened support focuses on providing preschool teaching for children from impoverished families, those in underdeveloped rural areas as well as the offspring of migrant workers in cities.

 

These supports are usually made via school construction, subsidies for children and teacher training.

 

The ministry cited a policy under which urban schools that enroll children of migrant workers get subsidies.

 

It vowed to invest more on expanding coverage of government-sponsored kindergartens as well as private charitable kindergartens as a key measure to strengthen preschool education.

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