The central government has pledged 50 billion yuan (HK$61 billion) over the next five years to develop preschools in rural areas of underdeveloped western regions and in some impoverished areas in central China.
During a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday, regional governments were tasked with greater responsibilities in nurturing preschool education on the mainland, state media such as CCTV and Xinhua reported.
The central government also moved to extend an appraisal regime for primary and secondary school teachers in an attempt to boost the level of teaching.
The lack of kindergarten facilities on the mainland has been a source of growing public discontent for years, but it was not until last year that central authorities began to take a serious look at the issue. Preschool teaching was identified as a top priority in a 10-year blueprint for educational development.
While parents in major cities cry foul over the lack of affordable and decent preschools, little light has been shed on struggling preschools in rural areas, which handle 80 per cent of kindergarten pupils on the mainland but receive virtually no public funding.
Under a four-point guideline unveiled on Wednesday, the central government will make more funding and cash rewards available to new, affordable kindergartens and to schools that cater to pupils from migrant families in major cities, according to state media.