Zhejiang to pilot credit system for parents

Zhejiang province plans to roll out a pilot credit system for parents that will give them priority for activities organized by education authorities.

The aim of the project is to encourage parents to be more involved in their children's education and overall growth, though taking the course is optional.

Shangcheng district in Hangzhou, Zhejiang's provincial capital, initiated a star-rated parenting qualification system in 2017, said Ding Hangying, a Zhejiang People's Congress deputy who has called for the system to be rolled out across the province.

Since the Zhejiang Digital Parent School opened last year on Zhijianghui, an education app released by the provincial education department, it has issued 220,000 e-certificates to parents who participated in digital parenting schools across the province.

The digital resource database was set up in 2019 for parents of students in kindergartens, primary schools, junior high schools and senior high schools.

Approximately 70 percent of primary and middle schools in the province are expected to build digital parent schools by 2025, according to a blueprint from the provincial education department.

By the end of last year, 920 online parenting education schools for primary and secondary schools had been established across Zhejiang, accounting for 15 percent of the province's primary and secondary schools. Just over 30 percent were launched through the Zhijianghui app.

Song Lingshu, a 35-year-old graphic designer and mother of a 10-year-old boy in Hangzhou's Gongshu district, hailed such moves.

"Such training, though not compulsory, is aimed at improving parents' capabilities in their parenting skills and knowledge," she said.

However, she said such credit systems should not be considered a one-size-fits-all solution for parents, adding that kindergartens and schools should play their roles in improving children's education alongside parents.

A Zhejiang digital parent school resource sharing alliance, under the supervision of the provincial education department, is being put together.

It will gather professional education institutions across the province to share public educational resources.

Cai Jingwen contributed to this story.