The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) has included the preschool education law as one of the 40 bills scheduled for review this year.

The legislative agenda aligns with an action plan jointly released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and eight other departments in December 2021 that stresses universal, inclusive, safe and quality development of preschool education.

A motion submitted during the fifth session of the 13th NPC held that speeding up the formulation of preschool education law is a requisite for implementing the strategies of invigorating China through science and education and strengthening the nation through human resource development. It is also an urgent requirement for improving the legal system for education, boost preschool education in accordance with the action plan, and a strong support for the country's population development strategy, the motion noted.

The law is expected to address such pragmatic problems as kindergarten crunch and unaffordability, and provide a legal guarantee for the healthy and smooth progress of preschool education, according to the motion.

The motion said preschool education should adhere to the overall leadership of the Communist Party of China, fully enforce national education policies, and accomplish the fundamental task of fostering virtue.

Among specific suggestions in the motion are the needs to clarify the legal status of preschool education, its management system and institution, and the leading responsibility of the government. It’s also suggested in the motion to establish a system for developing rural preschool education supported by stable government spending, strive for innovation, intensify training of teachers, and create a system of supervision, evaluation and accountability.

In recent years, the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the NPC, the MOE and other related departments have conducted nationwide research on preschool education legislation. Some provinces and cities including Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Qingdao have introduced their own regional regulations in this regard, which serves as valuable references for the legislation at the national level.

Progress has been made since a draft bill was released in September 2020 to solicit public comments. The MOE presented the draft law to the State Council in April 2021, and the Ministry of Justice is currently seeking further opinions from various sides to revise and improve the draft.