Large-scale closure of schools, surplus teachers and staff may reach one million, and the overall adjustment of kindergartens!
Large-scale closure of schools, surplus teachers and staff may reach one million, and the overall adjustment of kindergartens!
Preface. The number of births is expected to decrease by 2023, raising concerns about the impact on various sectors, especially education. Kindergartens, as the initial stage of education, are also inevitably affected by this trend. The widespread closure of kindergartens has led to an increase in the number of remaining places and remaining teaching staff, triggering the need for an overall restructuring of kindergartens. This document addresses this issue, analyses the direct impact of declining birth rates on educational development, and looks forward to the future direction of kindergartens and the education sector.
The impact of the decline in the number of births on kindergartens.
1.There is a surplus of kindergarten places.
Due to the declining number of births, kindergartens are facing an increasingly serious problem of excess enrolment. Many kindergartens are still not full when they start, which leads to some kindergartens starting to attract students through discounts, free training and other preferential measures, but they still cannot be filled. According to reports, 50 private kindergartens in Linquan County, Fuyang City, Anhui Province, have been suspended, more than in the whole of last year, reflecting the seriousness of the phenomenon of kindergarten closures. In first-tier cities such as Guangzhou, there are also many private kindergartens that have announced their closure.
2.Increase the surplus teaching staff.
The problem of surplus places caused by the closure of kindergartens has led to a surplus of teachers. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Education, in 2022, the number of full-time preschool teachers in the country reached 324420,000 people, with the closure of kindergartens, the problem of overstaffing has become more prominent. According to research documents, from 2024 to 2050, there will be more than 10 million kindergarten places every year, and the surplus of teachers and staff will exceed 1 million. This phenomenon has led to a large-scale adjustment of the entire kindergarten industry.
Global restructuring of kindergartens.
1.The phenomenon of closure and reorganization of kindergartens.
With the intensification of the closure of kindergartens, the kindergarten industry will usher in a first-class transformation. Among them, the smallest and weakest kindergartens are the most affected and will be forced to close. Some localities have begun to take steps to merge and dismantle kindergartens with small numbers of young children in response to demographic changes. For example, the notice issued by the Hunan Provincial Department of Education mentions measures to guide kindergartens with a small number of children to merge, merge and transfer.
2.Excellent teachers and job prospects.
With the emergence of overstaffing, the employment prospects of preschool teachers have also been affected. Many localities have begun to implement a system of all-round competition for posts, and unqualified teachers have been eliminated. This evaluation mechanism makes the work of teachers more unstable, and further exacerbates the general trend of kindergarten restructuring. However, at the primary and secondary levels, although the effects of population decline are not yet apparent, the stability of the teaching profession is also threatened, as any profession changes.
Summary. This year's decline in births has sparked a restructuring of the global kindergarten industry. Kindergartens were faced with a surplus of places and staff, and had to restructure the industry through closures and mergers. The wave of kindergarten closures has affected the stability of teachers' jobs and further exacerbated the uncertainty of the kindergarten industry. In this changing context, teachers need to improve their professional competencies, but also have other options to cope with the changes that may occur.