Inner Mongolia extends compulsory education

Compulsory education has been extended to preschooling in some districts of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The move comes after the 12-year compulsory education, from elementary school to senior high school, took effect throughout the region from autumn of 2012.

Minzu Kindergarten in Ejin Horo Banner, one of the three schools in Ordos, has been listed as one of the region’s model kindergartens.

Yong Hong, head of the kindergarten, said 727 children attend it, including 12 classes taught in Mandarin and three in Mongolian. The school has enrolled 90 percent of eligible children in the banner — an administrative division.

Gao Qirong, party chief of the banner education bureau, said each child from a Mongolian ethnic group will receive a subsidy of 3,900 yuan ($626) a year, while each Han Chinese child will receive 2,700 yuan, which can generally cover all their costs at the kindergarten. He said the banner has 17 public kindergartens and plans to build five more this year.

The banner government has allocated 50 million yuan a year since 2010 in subsidies for students in different grades receiving compulsory education, excluding extra financial support for college students.

The banner has enrolled 65 first-class teachers nationwide to upgrade the education level. They earn 80,000 yuan a year and their jobs come with apartments.

All students from Mongolian ethnic groups attending Mongolian-language elementary and high schools will be assigned jobs by the government, if they wish, after graduating from college amid a highly competitive job market.