China announced Wednesday it will increase investment in pre-school education to ensure "basic" and "quality" pre-school education are more accessible to children.

China will establish a well-structured pre-school education network that covers both urban and rural areas, said a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet, presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao.

Pre-school education is a "weak link" in the country's education system due to a shortage of teachers and unbalanced development of urban and rural areas, it read.

The government will encourage urban communities, villages, government institutions, enterprises to build kindergartens to address the shortfall and aid private kindergartens so they can offer cheaper services.

More financial aid will be provided to kindergartens at border regions, areas inhabited by ethnic minorities and rural areas, especially in the less-developed hinterland provinces, according to the statement.

Also the central government would train 10,000 kindergarten directors and teachers in three years, it said.

Authorities are to ensure the safety of the kindergartens, and the schools are not allowed to collect unwarranted fees, it added.

Soaring kindergarten fees and shrinking access have become top concerns for parents with pre-school children in big cities such as Beijing, as the cities' population growth has outpaced the development of kindergartens.

In Beijing, a city with a population of more than 17 million, the number of kindergartens has dropped from 3,056 in 1996 to the current 1,266, according to the Municipal Commission of Education.

The problem of the shortfall in kindergartens goes back to 2000, when the government reformed the pre-school education sector, requiring many kindergartens to become commercial businesses.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2010)