Fun, games and plenty of bathroom breaks: China’s kindergartens told to let kids be kids

No primary school eduction at kindergartens. No limiting children’s toilet time. China’s Ministry of Education have issued sweeping regulations on what children aged three to six should be doing in the classroom.

The new Kindergarten Work Regulations, which became effective on Tuesday and published on the ministry’s website, states no kindergartens should teach primary school materials.

Using primary school education materials in kindergartens “was a fairly serious problem”, said Zheng Fuzhi, an official from the ministry, in an interview last year.

Games should be the main form of instruction at kindergartens.

Neither can teachers place limits on how many times children go to the toilet.

The regulations also ban kindergartens from organising any admission examinations.