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PART Recent Trends and Developments in Government Policies in Education, Science and Culture

In 1991 there were approximately 15,000 kindergartens throughout the country, with an enrollment of about 1,980,000 children. The proportion of enrolled children according to specific age groups was about 64% for five-year olds, about 56% for four-year olds and about 23% for three-year olds. There are, however, geographical gaps in the level of development of kindergartens l no kindergartens exist in some 940 municipalities.

In recent years certain changes have emerged in circumstances surrounding children such as an increase in the number of nuclear families and of families with only one or two children. As a result, the parents of kindergarten children have heightened expectations for the development of kindergarten education including that for three-year-old children. In March 1991 the Government decided on a plan for the promotion of kindergarten education with the aim of enrolling all children (including three-year-olds) who wish to enter kindergartens. The Government will endeavor to further promote kindergarten education, by making improvements in kindergartens based on this plan.

With the aim of encouraging the enrollment of three-year-o1d children, in 1991 the Government changed its funding policies to include subsidies for three-year-olds in addition to four-year and five-year-o1ds.