Detailed Sector Assessment: Pre-Primary Education Project Number: 53060-001 March 2021 People's Republic of China: Shaanxi Xi'an Preschool Education Development Program CONTENTS Page A. EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES ............... 1 B. SECTOR PROFILE: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN XI'AN ............................... 5 1. Access to Early Childhood Education ....................................................................... 5 2. Quality of Early Childhood Education ..................................................................... 11 3. Early Childhood Education Management, Supervision, and Financing ..................... 19 4. Early Childhood Education Innovation .................................................................... 20 C. INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL LESSONS AND GOOD PRACTICE..................... 21 D. ADB COUNTRY AND SECTOR EXPERIENCE AND ASSISTANCE ........................... 27 E. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADB TO SUPPORT EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT IN XI'AN .................................................................................................... 28 APPENDIXES 1. Bilingual Glossary ............................................................................................................ 30 2. Problem Tree ................................................................................................................... 35 3. Xi'an Preschool Education Development Plan, 2019–2025 ................................................ 36 ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank ECE – early childhood education GER – gross enrollment ratio ICT – information and communication technology MOE – Ministry of Education OECD – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PLCs – professional learning communities PMO – program management office PRC – People's Republic of China QTS – qualified teacher status TA – technical assistance UNESCO – United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization UNICEF – United Nations Children's Fund XEB – Xi'an Education Bureau XMG – Xi'an Municipal Government XPEDP – Xi'an Preschool Education Development Plan A. EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES 1. Importance of Early Childhood Education 1. A cost-effective investment. Delivering quality early childhood education (ECE) is one of the most critical and cost-effective investments any country can make. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) highlights three key reasons for investing in ECE: (i) quality preschool education sets a strong foundation for learning, (ii) universal preschool education helps make the entire education system more effective and efficient, and (iii) equitable preschool education promotes economic growth.1 In short, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNESCO), investment in the early years is pivotal to building the wealth of nations.2 2. Far-reaching benefits. The foundations of individual development and learning are laid in early childhood. Compelling evidence from the fields of neuroscience, economics, and developmental and behavioral sciences highlights the importance of the early years on human development outcomes and the long-term effects of ECE on labor productivity in an increasingly competitive global economy.3 However, improvement in not just access but also quality of ECE programs is essential for realizing the full range of long-term benefits.4 3. Children who receive early childhood education stay in school longer. The effect of ECE on children's total schooling across 12 countries in one empirical study was an average of 1 additional year in school. In Yunnan Province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the average was significantly greater at about 1.5 years.5 In all 34 Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) countries that participated in the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment, students who attended preschool education for more than 1 year outperformed students without early years learning experiences. 6 The relationship remains strong after controlling for socioeconomic background. Student performance tends to be greater in school systems with a longer duration, smaller teacher-to-student ratio, and higher public expenditure per child at the pre-primary level of education.7 4. The PRC's gross enrollment ratio (GER) in 3-year ECE increased dramatically over just 1 decade, from 56.6% in 2010 to 83.4% in 2019. However, the country has yet to attain universal enrollment and lags behind regional neighbors Japan (92%) and the Republic of Korea (94%). 8 Access challenges are greatest among children from poor families, in rural and/or poverty-stricken areas, belonging to ethnic minorities, and in central and western regions. 1 UNICEF. 2019. A World Ready to Learn: Prioritizing Quality Early Childhood Education. New York. 2 UNESCO. 2010. EFA Global Monitoring Report: Reaching the Marginalized. Paris. 3 J. Heckman et al. 2009. A Reanalysis of the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program (draft) 4 M. Shafiq, A. Devercelli, and A. Valerio. 2018. Are There Long-Term Benefits from Early Childhood Education in Low- and Middle-Income Countries? Education Policy Analysis Archives. 26 (122). The mixed results across the countries studied suggest that improvement in the quality of ECE programs is necessary for realizing the full range of long-term benefits. 5 World Bank. 2016. SABER Country Report 2016. China Early Childhood Development: Systems Approach for Better Education Results. Washington, DC. 6 The Program for International Student Assessment is a worldwide study conducted by OECD in member and nonmember countries intended to evaluate education systems by measuring 15-year pupil's education performance in mathematics, science, and reading. 7 OECD. 2010. PISA 2009 Results: Overcoming Social Background—Equity in Learning Opportunities and Outcomes (Volume II). Paris: OECD. 8 OECD. 2020. Education at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD. 2 2. The People's Republic of China's Early Childhood Education Policy Framework 5. National legal framework. The PRC's policy landscape for ECE is defined in the Outline of China's National Plan for Medium and Long-Term Education Reform and Development, 2010– 2020 which envisions increasing funding for preschool education and calls for an expansion of coverage. The central and local governments have taken bold steps to prioritize ECE based on the State Council's regulation # 41 of November 2010 on Issues Regarding Current Development of Early Childhood Education. The national policy agenda and action plans for local governments to follow, urge them to increase financing for ECE and develop a series of 3-year ECE action plans toward achieving at least the national average goals of ECE enrollment by 2020.9 6. The November 2018 Opinions of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council on Deepening Reform and Regulated Development of ECE clearly set out 2020 goals and medium and long-term targets up to 2035.10 Specifically, by 2020, the country would establish a universal, public, and quality ECE system with (i) the GER reaching 85% of 3–5 year olds, and (ii) the coverage of public and affordable private kindergartens (that charge fees below a certain limit) reaching 80% of students.11 By 2035, 3-year ECE will be made available to all families through the establishment of a system covering both urban and rural areas and a rational distribution of quality resources. The PRC's Education Modernisation 2035 Plan, issued in 2019, has additionally committed to achieving universal attendance in quality preschool education.12 7. National early childhood education law and early childhood education monitoring framework. The Ministry of Education (MOE) is developing a new ECE law to further support preschool development, included in the State Council's 2020 Legislative Plan. The draft was unveiled on 7 September 2020 to solicit public opinion, with Chinese lawmakers' call for the accessibility, affordability, safety and high-quality of ECE. At the same time, in February 2020, MOE issued a county-level Supervision and Evaluation Framework for Universal and Affordable ECE, including three main components with targeted benchmarks: (i) universal and affordable coverage of ECE, (ii) guarantee measures for effective governance, and (iii) guarantee measures for quality care and education. These measures make clear the government's prioritization of ECE, stipulating that governments need to be held accountable for ECE supervision. 8. Shaanxi provincial policies. The May 2020 Shaanxi provincial action plan is aligned with the national agenda, with an additional component focusing on stakeholders' satisfaction with ECE provision. The Shaanxi Provincial Third ECE Action Plan, 2017–2020 and the Shaanxi Provincial Affordable Private Kindergarten Accreditation and Management Regulations were both issued in March 2017. They require that public and affordable private kindergartens be significantly expanded by 2020 through additional infrastructure and ECE "standardized, normalized, and informatized." 9 Footnote 5, p.10. 10 The document further lays out overall requirements for the reform and development of preschool education and specific measures to be taken in eight areas: (i) planning and distribution of kindergartens, (ii) expansion of preschool education resources, (iii) long-term funding mechanisms, (iv) teaching workforce, (v) supervision systems, (vi) regulation of private kindergartens, (vii) childcare and teaching