The General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on gradually promoting free preschool education".

Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Gradually Implementing Free Preschool Education" to promote the popularization, availability, safety, and high-quality development of preschool education. The "Opinions" emphasize adhering to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implementing the spirit of the 19th and 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, as well as the Third and Fourth Plenary Sessions of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, fully implementing the Party's education policy, focusing on the urgent needs and expectations of the people, and gradually eliminating preschool education and nursery education fees in accordance with the principles of enhancing accessibility, stability, orderly progress, and increased government investment, with reasonable cost sharing. This will effectively reduce education costs, improve the level of basic public education services, and provide satisfactory education for the people. The "Opinions" specify that starting from the autumn semester of 2025, fees for nursery education for children in the first year of preschool education in public kindergartens will be exempt. The standard for exempting nursery education fees will be based on the approved fee standards for nursery education in public kindergartens by local people's governments at or above the county level and their education and pricing regulatory departments. For children enrolled in private kindergartens approved by the education department, the exempted level will be determined based on the equivalent level in local public kindergartens, and corresponding reductions or exemptions from nursery education fees will be provided. Any excess fees charged by private kindergartens beyond the exempted level can continue to be collected from families according to regulations. For the revenue loss due to exempting nursery education fees, kindergartens will receive financial assistance from the relevant government departments based on factors such as the number of children exempted from fees and the actual per capita fee level in the area. The "Opinions" also suggest that, building on the nationwide policy of exempting nursery education fees, provinces are encouraged to further consolidate and implement aid policies for economically disadvantaged children, orphans, and children with disabilities, to ensure basic protection for these groups. Additionally, the "Opinions" emphasize the need to earnestly implement the Law of the People's Republic of China on Preschool Education, adhere to the principles of basic protection and universal accessibility, and further improve the mechanism for investing in preschool education. Provinces are required to play a coordinating role, improve working mechanisms, clarify responsibilities, formulate specific implementation plans, and align them with existing preschool education subsidy policies in their respective regions. Financial and educational departments at all levels are urged to strengthen daily monitoring, enhance fund security and management, allocate funds in a timely and sufficient manner, ensure the normal operation of kindergartens, and strictly prohibit any delays in paying teacher salaries. Education departments at all levels should strictly enforce supervisory responsibilities, regulate school operation behaviors, and effectively safeguard the physical and mental health of children in kindergartens.