Early Child Development in China : Breaking the Cycle of Poverty and Improving Future Competitiveness

In the past 30 years, China has reached the target of lifting 500 million people out of poverty. The rate of increase in human development indicators has become the second fastest in the world, allowing China to enter the ranks of middle-income countries. As the most populous country, accounting for one-fifth of the world's population, its transformation has been unprecedented in human history. Scientific evidence and international experience in the past 10 years have found that early child development (ECD) is key to human development, as it lays the foundation for the rest of life. Early child development includes physical, psychological, emotional, language, behavioral, and social development. Experience in the early years of life will determine healthy development and happiness in the rest of life. Research has found that investment in ECD is the most cost effective strategy to improve human development. In China's demographic transition, the population of children and youth is declining in absolute numbers, and the investment of raising them can increase on a per capita basis. This study has been in the making since 2009. It was prepared during a time when China was charting its course of development under the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015). The study began with an agreement between the World Bank and China's National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) for a collaborative study on ECD. Concurrently, China's Ministry of Education invited the World Bank to conduct an overall review of the education sector, in order to provide it with inputs and suggestions as it prepared China's national plan for medium- and long-term education reform and development (2010-2020). In reviewing achievements and challenges in the education sector, the Bank found that there was much room for expanding and improving preprimary education for children ages 3-6. The Ministry of Education appreciated the Bank's identification of this need and set ambitious goals for preprimary education in the national education plan.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Wu, Kin Bing, Young, Mary Eming, Cai, Jianhua
Language:	English
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2012-07-06
Subjects:	ACCESS TO INFORMATION, ADDICTION, ADULT LITERACY, ADULT LITERACY RATE, AGE GROUPS, AGING, BABIES, BABY, BASIC EDUCATION, BILINGUAL EDUCATION, BOARDING, BREASTFEEDING, CARE CENTERS, CARE FOR CHILDREN, CAREGIVERS, CHILD CARE, CHILD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS, CHILD EDUCATION, CHILD HEALTH, CHILD HEALTH SERVICES, CHILD NUTRITION, CHILD PROTECTION, CHILD WELFARE, CITIZENS, CLASSROOM, CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT, COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT, COGNITIVE SKILLS, COMPULSORY EDUCATION, CURRICULUM, CYCLE OF POVERTY, DAY CARE, DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION, DEPENDENCY RATIO, DEPRESSION, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DIABETES, DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN, DISSEMINATION, EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT, EARLY CHILDHOOD, EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT, EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, EARLY INTERVENTION, EARLY INTERVENTIONS, EARLY LEARNING, EARLY STIMULATION, EARLY YEARS OF LIFE, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC POLICIES, EDUCATION PROGRAMS, EDUCATION SECTOR, EDUCATION SYSTEMS, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EDUCATIONAL INDICATORS, ELDERLY, ENROLLMENT, ENROLLMENT TARGETS, FAMILIES, FAMILY EDUCATION, FAMILY INCOME, FAMILY PLANNING, FAMILY PLANNING COMMISSION, FAMILY WELFARE, FOOD SECURITY, FORMAL EDUCATION, FUTURE GROWTH, GENDER EQUALITY, GER, GIRLS, GLOBAL HEALTH, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS, GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, GROSS ENROLLMENT, GROSS ENROLLMENT RATIO, GROSS ENROLLMENT RATIOS, GUIDELINES ON WOMEN, HEALTH CARE, HEALTH INTERVENTIONS, HEALTH SECTOR, HEALTH SYSTEM, HEALTH SYSTEM REFORM, HEALTH SYSTEMS, HEIGHT FOR AGE, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, HOSPITAL, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HYGIENE, ILLITERACY, IMMUNIZATION, IMPORTANT POLICY, INCOME INEQUALITY, INSTRUCTION, INSTRUCTIONAL TIME, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, INTERVENTIONS, INVESTMENTS IN EDUCATION, IRON, KINDERGARTEN, KINDERGARTENS, LABOR FORCE, LAWS, LEARNING MATERIALS, LEGAL PROTECTION, LEGAL STATUS, LEVEL OF EDUCATION, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LIFE EXPECTANCY, LIFE SKILLS, LIVE BIRTHS, LOCAL COMMUNITIES, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, MATERNAL MORTALITY, MATERNAL MORTALITY RATE, MEDICAL CARE, MENTAL, MIGRANT, MIGRANTS, MIGRATION, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, MINISTRY OF HEALTH, MINORITY, MORTALITY, MOTHER, NATIONAL COMMITTEE, NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, NATIONAL EDUCATION, NATIONAL PLAN, NATIONAL POPULATION, NER, NET ENROLLMENT, NET ENROLLMENT RATIO, NEWBORNS, NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS, NUMBER OF PEOPLE, NUMERACY, NUTRITION, NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCY, OBESITY, ORPHANS, PARENTING, PEDIATRICS, PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT, POLICY FRAMEWORK, POLICY IMPLICATIONS, POLICY MAKERS, POLICY RESEARCH, POPULATION AGE STRUCTURE, POPULATION DEVELOPMENT, POPULOUS COUNTRY, POSTNATAL CARE, PREGNANCY, PREGNANT WOMEN, PRENATAL CARE, PREPRIMARY EDUCATION, PRESCHOOL EDUCATION, PRIMARY CAREGIVERS, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIMARY SCHOOLS, PRIVATE EXPENDITURE, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, PROGRESS, PROTECTION OF CHILDREN, PUBLIC EDUCATION, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PUBLIC SERVICES, QUALIFIED TEACHERS, QUALITY CARE, READING, RIGHTS OF WOMEN, RURAL AREAS, RURAL CHILDREN, RURAL COUNTIES, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, RURAL GIRLS, RURAL POPULATIONS, RURAL RESIDENTS, SANITATION, SCHOOL HEALTH, SCHOOL READINESS, SCHOOLING, SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE, SECONDARY EDUCATION, SECONDARY SCHOOLS, SERVICE DELIVERY, SERVICE PROVIDERS, SERVICE PROVISION, SMOKING, SOCIAL COHESION, SOCIAL CONDITIONS, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL GROUPS, SOCIAL POLICY, SOCIAL SCIENCE, SOCIAL SECURITY, SOCIAL SERVICE, SOCIAL SERVICES, SOCIAL SKILLS, SPECIAL EDUCATION, SPECIAL NEEDS, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, STUDENT ASSESSMENT, SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH, TEACHER EDUCATION, TEACHER RATIO, TEACHERS, TEACHING, TELEVISION, TRAINING PROGRAMS, TV, URBAN AREAS, URBAN MIGRATION, URBAN POPULATION, URBANIZATION, VACCINATION, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL TRAINING, WORKERS, YOUNG CHILDREN, YOUTH,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/07/16499167/early-child-development-china-breaking-cycle-poverty-improving-future-competitiveness https://hdl.handle.net/10986/9383
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!