China's early education plan a smart investment in the future

China is currently emphasising that its national education goals must be met by 2020, one of which is to get 70 per cent of children into kindergarten. As in ancient times, modern China accepts that education is crucial for future success. A key feature is to begin education early, at home and in kindergarten.

The focus is not only on education but also good nutrition and ensuring that parents are aware of the best practices for childhood development. In towns and cities, they are readily addressed, but in rural enclaves, it is more difficult.

A pilot project in two remote regions in Qinghai and in Henan provinces begun in 2009 has been studying nutritional intervention for children aged two and over and better health management for three to six-year-olds. The results are promising: with a better diet and parental guidance, the children's performance has improved. Many developed nations know the benefits of good nutrition during the first 1,000 "golden days" of childhood.

Further, detailed testing of educational progress is needed. India's annual school education survey reaches over 560 districts each year, testing whether some 650,000 children in more than 16,000 villages know, with increasing complexity, letters, words, sentences and a paragraph. There is also an equivalent maths test. The Indian government was appalled by the poor results in 2009 and vowed to do better - which is happening. Such things are also improving in China. Although it begins from a higher baseline than India, there are problems nevertheless: long distances from rural homes to schools, a lack of good facilities at the schools and a shortage of teachers willing to live in the countryside.