The Ministry of Education plans to establish about 20,000 kindergartens during the five years beginning in 2015, says the head of working group appointed by the government to consider early childhood learning.
Dr Khin Myo Myint Kyu told Mizzima on August 27 that the project would prioritise 33 townships throughout the country that had no kindergartens.
She said 3,000 of the kindergartens would be established in each of the first two years of the project, 4,000 in the third and fourth years and 6,000 in the final year.
The ministry's decision to launch the project had been influenced by evidence that attendance at a kindergarten had a significant impact on a child's ability to learn in later years, Dr Khin Myo Myint Khu said.
"At the basic education level, there is a difference in the happiness and attendance rates of children who have attended a kindergarten and those who have not," she said.
Dr Khin Myo Myint Khu said the kindergartens would employ two teachers and enrol a minimum of 15 children.
Ministry of Education figures from a survey in 2009-2010 show that only about 20 percent of the pupils at state basic education schools had attended kindergarten.
