Shanghai pre-schools’ all-play approach making parents sweat

A highly segmented system Previously, public kindergartens would partner with private operators to provide enrichment sessions – conducted after formal classes end each day – in mathematics, English or hanyu pinyin. In 2010, the Shanghai government banned such arrangements as it did not want children at such a young age to be subjected to academic stress. However, it could not stop parents sending their children to enrichment classes conducted by private operators. “Banning such lessons have caused the children more stress because parents started sending them to different classes on the weekends, particularly in the second half of their final year in preschool when parents start to get anxious about their child entering primary school,” said Associate Professor Zhou Nianli, from East China Normal University’s Department of Preschool Education. In Shanghai, where 64 per cent of the 1,401 kindergartens in the city are run by the government, private operators have differentiated themselves by including lessons that are banned in the public kindergartens. Some also boast of having foreign educators who teach English and charge high fees for that. Monthly fees at private kindergartens range from RMB1,300 (S$260) to RMB10,000. In contrast, public kindergartens charge between RMB175 to RMB800, depending on their grade. Monthly fees for ‘model’ public kindergartens are between RMB 700 to RMB 800. Grade 1 centres charge between RMB225 and RMB390 while Grade 2 centres can set parents back by RMB175 to RMB340 a month. Grade 3 kindergartens, which cater to rural migrant workers from other parts of China, are considered private kindergartens. Unlike their upmarket counterparts, these charge between RMB125 and RMB290 each month. The fees at the kindergartens do not include meals which cost between RMB5 and RMB10 a day. While they are free to set their fees, private kindergartens – which also follow the official curriculum but are accorded greater flexibility and autonomy – are subjected to regular audits by the authorities. They also need to justify their fees. “With a foreign face, private kindergartens can raise their fees... So this is how the private kindergartens are feeding the parents’ demands of wanting their child to learn more. Parents do not care about the money and have the thinking, ‘I don’t want the best, I just want the most expensive one’... If I can send my kids to this or that school, it means I have the economic power,” said Assoc Prof Zhou. Still, several Shanghai parents interviewed by TODAY said they prefer the affordability and quality assurance provided by public kindergartens. Mdm Yang Hua, whose five year old son is enrolled in a public kindergarten, said: “I believe in the government’s decision on the curriculum... and not being a professional educator, I should listen to those who know better. So I definitely believe in whatever the school does, I believe (the curriculum) most suitable for a child at that age...I don’t agree that a kid should be made to learn as much as possible so as not to lose out.” Despite the rising expectations and increasing demands of Shanghai parents, public kindergartens by and large remain highly regarded because of the government’s substantial investment in the sector. Last year, for instance, it poured in about RMB4.7 billion. It is estimated that on average, the government invests about RMB17,000 per child each year in pre-school. Any child who comes from a registered household in Shanghai – regardless of the family income level – is guaranteed a place in kindergarten. Fees including meal costs are waived for low-income families. For any child who is unable to get into a public kindergarten because of a lack of places or because he or she lives too far away from one, the government will subsidise the fees for the parents to enrol the child in a private kindergarten such that they need to only pay the same amount as in a public kindergarten. All public kindergartens are subjected to regular and rigorous checks by the authorities to ensure the curriculum adhere to the official guidelines. They have a teacher-student ratio of 1:15 and all teachers and classroom assistants must have a professional certificate. Nevertheless, Shanghai’s public kindergarten system is highly segmented, with differentiation between the various grades: The “model” public kindergartens, which number about fewer than 60 across the city, boast of having teachers who all hold a Bachelor degree in early childhood development. In comparison, the teachers at Grade 1 and Grade 2 public kindergartens – which make up 26 per cent and 57 per cent of the total number of graded kindergartens, respectively – are either college graduates or have a degree in other fields. Private kindergartens do not receive government subsidies for their operating costs. Depending on location, some may rent their campuses directly from the SHMEC. Recently, government training programmes for pre-school teachers were extended to private kindergartens. These kindergartens can also voluntarily be graded by the government – a move that some private operators believe will help them attract more students.

The challenges of ‘little emperors’ and social inequality In contrast, early childhood educators in public kindergartens are highly trained. Apart from teaching, they are also required to conduct research and case studies in early childhood development and have to go through professional training throughout their careers. As part of their training in college or university, early childhood educators learn to sing, dance, do art, and play the piano. Shanghai was the first Chinese city to make college certification a minimum qualification for pre-school teachers. As of last year, more than 90 per cent of full time pre-school teachers have college certifications and of which, about 57 per cent have Bachelor degrees. The government plans to increase the number of Bachelor degree holders to 60 per cent by the end of this year. Currently, all teachers must complete 360 hours of professional training within the first five years of joining the profession. In its next three-year plan for the preschool sector, which is expected to be published at the end of the year, the government will seek to raise the quality of teachers further and enhance professional training. Despite the qualifications and standing of pre-school teachers in Shanghai, parents are becoming more vocal and demanding. Much has been written about the “little emperors” phenomenon in China - or the emergence of a overly protected and pampered generation – as a result of the country’s one-child policy, and accentuated by the rising affluence of China’s middle class. Assoc Prof Zhou said that this has greatly affected the way teachers go about their work. For example, parents worry so much about their child’s safety that he or she is only allowed to carry out simple tasks or play in outdoor obstacle courses only when they are satisfied that there is little risk of the child getting hurt. Assoc Prof Zhou said: “If the children get hurt (in pre-school), their parents will complain. So, a child grows up in an environment where parents will say ‘don’t do this’ or ‘don’t do that’, and are asked to do only very simple things.” In Shanghai, parents and teachers communicate frequently through various platforms such as online forums or parent engagement activities. As parents become better educated, some will discuss education theories and methods with pre-school teachers and expect them to use these on their children, Ms Chen said. Pointing out that some teachers even lag behind the parents in terms of knowledge in these areas, she said that the onus is on the teachers to keep up. “At the moment, a lot of the teacher training courses haven’t caught up. Perhaps it is because the parent has only one child so their interest in reading such theories is deeper,” she said. But China’s social inequality, and in Shanghai in particular, meant that some parents – including the lesser educated ones – require assistance to get them more involved in their children’s learning, especially when they cannot count on prior experience in bringing up their only child. A parent, Mdm Zhang Chen Hua, said: “Just because a child is born does not mean that we will know how to be parents immediately. Maybe the government can give us some training... perhaps something like parenting certification.” In fact, Prof Zhu identified social inequality as a challenge for Shanghai’s pre-school sector. Noting Singapore’s model where anchor operators receive government funding and have their fees capped, he felt that Shanghai’s public operators “should cater for the poor” and let the rich families enrol their children in private kindergartens. Nevertheless, he reiterated that overall, Shanghai’s pre-school education “is comparable to anywhere else in the world”. “The best preschools in China are in Shanghai but Shanghai is a special place...so it cannot represent China,” he said. Still, he disagreed with China’s low ranking in the Starting Well report, arguing that it uses a “Western view to judge pre-school education”. “Such ideals are not suitable for Asian societies as we value different things,” he said.