Some childcare institutions rarely admit children under the age of two

The younger the child, the higher the requirements for the professional quality of teachers and the higher the cost of hiring teachers

Some childcare institutions rarely admit children under the age of two

"We do need help with the child, and we have learned about childcare services, but the child is too young, we are always afraid that he will be bullied in the class, and it takes time to pick up and drop off the child, and in the end, it will not work." Recently, Wang Dongxu, who lives in Chaoyang District, Beijing, told reporters that he has a baby less than 3 years old, because the couple is usually busy with work, and both parents cannot help take care of it, Wang Dongxu can only pay a high price to hire a sister-in-law.

The reporter's interview found that there are many families with young children who have the same needs and concerns as Wang Dongxu, but many families are discouraged from social care institutions for various reasons. To solve the problem of childcare, how should social childcare institutions improve their quality and development, so that parents can choose with confidence?

Parents know little about childcare institutions and are not at ease

On the afternoon of June 13, the reporter came to the Hypertherm Daycare Center located in Haidian District, Beijing. At this time, a group of two-year-olds are running, playing and playing games with the teachers in the small playground. The sound of singing came from the classroom on the second floor, echoing throughout the nursery center.

"Currently, we have two classes with a total of 40 students, and we are planning to open another small class of 20 students in September this year." Yuan Xiaoying, a teacher at the nursery center, told reporters.

But not every childcare facility can recruit so many children. Liu Fang, a teacher at Qingqingteng Kindergarten in Daxing District, Beijing, said that her kindergarten currently has about 200 children, but due to safety, family parenting mode and operating costs, only 9 children are enrolled.

Statistics from the National Health Commission show that as of June 2023, there are more than 26,000 childcare institutions registered on the National Health Entrusted Education Institution Information Disclosure Platform.

Yuan Xiaoying introduced that some parents will go to the institution for consultation before caring for their children, and the questions raised by parents are varied, it can be seen that many parents still know little about childcare institutions and are not at ease.

In order to make parents more reassuring, childcare institutions are also looking for ways. Yuan Xiaoying showed the reporter an information feedback leaflet, which recorded the child's diet, sleep, physical condition, activity and teacher messages in detail. "We have also established a one-to-one family WeChat group for each child, sending daily photos and videos of children in the childcare center to parents, so that they can grasp the situation of their children in time." ”

Yang Fan, director of the Department of Demography of Chinese Min University and researcher at the Population and Development Research Center, said in an interview with the "Worker's Daily" reporter that at present, the domestic parenting model for children is more inclined to family care, and parents are more skeptical about the safety and scientific nature of childcare institutions.

"The large turnover of employees in childcare institutions, the lack of professional title evaluation system for practitioners, and the fact that many childcare institutions directly copy foreign childcare systems without localizing them are all problems that are being faced now." Yang Fan said.

Some kindergartens only enroll 2~3 years old

In May this year, the General Office of the Beijing Municipal Government issued the "Three-Year Action Plan for the Construction of Beijing Childcare Service System (2023-2025)", which mentioned that in order to enrich and diversify supply, effectively meet the needs of social childcare, rationally use existing preschool education resources, on the basis of fully meeting the preschool education needs of 3~6-year-old children, encourage and support qualified kindergartens to open kindergartens to enroll infants and toddlers aged 2~3.

Liu Fang said that the younger the child, the more care they need, from the aspects of child safety, family parenting mode, operating costs and other aspects, some kindergartens only enroll 2~3 years old children when running nurseries. The reporter interviewed a number of childcare institutions and learned that few institutions are willing to accept children under the age of two.

"The childcare of children aged 0 to 2 needs teachers with excellent professional skills, so it is necessary to effectively formulate a practitioner evaluation system, pay attention to the cultivation of relevant talents, and establish a relevant title selection system." Yang Fan said to reporters.

According to the "Standards for the Establishment of Childcare Institutions (Trial)" issued by the National Health Commission, childcare institutions generally set up three types of classes: nursery classes (6~12 months, less than 10 students), nursery classes (12~24 months, less than 15 people), and nursery classes (24~36 months, less than 20 people). The ratio of childcare personnel to infants and toddlers should not be less than 1:3 in the nursery class, 1:5 in the nursery class, and 1:7 in the nursery class.

"In other words, if the nursery class is to start, at least three teachers are required to care for nine children, and the younger the child, the higher the professional quality of the teacher, and the higher the cost of hiring teachers." Liu Fang said that three teachers can fully open kindergarten classes to take care of nearly 20 children around the age of two, which is cheaper and more profitable for childcare institutions.

In addition, some social childcare institutions said that the upfront investment cost of carrying out childcare services is also very high. Taking Hypertherm Daycare Center as an example, the classroom renovation and construction began in September 2021, obtained a business license in March 2022, completed the renovation and filing of relevant institutions in April, and invested nearly one million yuan in manpower and material resources in the early stage. In order to recover the cost as soon as possible, some childcare institutions often charge higher fees, which also discourages many parents with childcare needs.

Multi-party efforts are needed to support the development of childcare services

According to the survey data released by the National Health Commission, in 2022, the number of infants and young children aged 0~3 in mainland China will be about 32 million, of which more than 1/3 of families have childcare needs, and this proportion exceeds 2/3 in first-tier cities in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The relevant person in charge of the National Health Commission said that the current problems of mainland childcare services are mainly insufficient effective supply of inclusive childcare services and high prices.

Yang Fan said: "At present, the development of the childcare industry is also facing some problems, such as inaccurate overall planning and unbalanced resource allocation. Many areas are directly divided according to the number of people, and a more scientific division method should be according to the number of children under the age of 3. She suggested that social care institutions are still in an emerging state of development, and the support of policies and related funds is also very necessary.

In recent years, many localities have successively introduced a number of measures to support the development of childcare institutions and meet the needs of families. For example, Beijing has proposed that by 2025, Beijing will have 4.5 childcare places for infants under the age of 3 per 1,000 population, of which no less than 60% will be inclusive childcare places. Through the establishment of kindergartens and the transformation of community-run kindergartens, no less than 30,000 new inclusive childcare centers have been added.

Source: Workers' Daily Workers' Daily reporter Chen Ziyun Qu Xinyue