Ministry of Education: By 2026, strengthen the survey on the implementation of the one-year free preschool policy

From February 5 to 6, at the 2026 National Basic Education Key Work Deployment Conference held in Langfang, Hebei, it was announced that in 2026, the Ministry of Education will continue to promote special rectification of campus meals, teaching aids, and school uniforms, strengthen full-chain supervision of campus meals, strictly control the “entry point” for teaching aid subscriptions, promote standardized procurement of school uniforms, and crack down on利益输送 and corruption behaviors, firmly safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of students and parents. Regarding deepening exam and evaluation reform, the Ministry of Education proposed to orderly advance middle school entrance exam reform, conduct evaluation of exam questions, improve question quality, reduce超纲超标, rote memorization, and “mechanical practice,” guiding teaching back to the essence of育人. Localities should also coordinate enrollment reform, actively expand high school education resources, increase opportunities for the public to receive quality education, and encourage qualified areas to explore diversified admission reforms such as registering for enrollment, balanced placement, and zoning招生, to diminish competition for advancement. In the in-depth Sunlight Enrollment专项行动, the Ministry of Education requires that compulsory education implement免试就近入学 and fully promote balanced class assignment. Regular high schools should strictly enforce local招生 and “公民同招” policies,规范 and clean up unreasonable招生 policies, and firmly uphold the bottom line of教育公平. Additionally, the Ministry of Education announced that in 2026, it will strengthen surveys on the implementation of the one-year free preschool policy, promote the construction of integrated幼儿园 for托幼, and support qualified kindergartens to enroll 2-3-year-old children. (CCTV News)