By She Yu, the Research Department of Social Development, the DRC

Research Report No, 78, 2014

Abstract:

A recent survey of kindergarten healthcare staff has found many problems, such as not enough full-time staff, lower education levels, less professional competence, and in particular, a shortage of staff, which include doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants whose job is to prevent disease, protect the children, and help maintain physical and psychological health. But they still have a high work load, low pay, and few chances for promotion, which causes a vicious circle.

The distribution of working staff for healthcare is of serious imbalance between public and private kindergartens, and urban and rural areas, which clearly has an impact on the healthcare staff's daily work, and ultimately could harm the children's security and health.

The study suggests that, first, China needs to provide more healthcare workers at the kindergarten level, second, career development and promotion opportunities for them should be explored, third, greater remuneration should be considered, and fourth, better supervision and training for healthcare staff.