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On July 28, a video meeting was held by the Office of Education Inspection Committee of the State Council to promote the nationwide regulation of neighborhood kindergartens in cities and townships. Vice Minister of Education Zheng Fuzhi attended the meeting and consulted with leaders of Shaanxi, Henan and Jilin provincial governments, who introduced the progress made and measures to be take in the regulation of preschools within residential areas in their respective provinces.
It was noted that, as decided by the central government, regulation targets were to be met before the end of this year, as a major measure to achieve the goal of making preschool education universal. It was further pointed out that, despite overall significant achievements, progress was unbalanced across the country, with some provinces facing more problems and hurdles, which called for stronger measures.
A three-point plan was proposed for different provinces. First, time-bound objectives should be identified, and necessary resources mobilized to ensure that each residential area is equipped with adequate public preschool facilities by the end of 2020. Second, problems hindering progress needed to be rooted out, while accountability had to be reinforced, requiring local education authorities to speed up their results-oriented regulation process. Third, more efficient and effective measures needed to be adopted, drawing on good practice applied in other provinces, while considering local conditions.