Chinese Officials Exploring CDA as an Early Childhood Education Option

by CounciLINK on March 22, 2018

The Council's CDA Credential pilot program in China with partner ChinaWise received a lot of interest from Chinese government officials during the first week of the Chinese government's annual legislative session this month.

The Chinese government is reviewing the country's need for early childhood education for young children. Currently, China does not have a national education system for children ages zero to 5. Kindergarten in China begins at age 6. During a week of meetings in China from March 4 – March 10, 2018, Dr. Valora Washington, CEO and Ken Murphy, Chief Communications Officer, met with several government agencies, education providers and visited private education sites where two CDA and PDS cohort groups are being trained. The educational providers included universities and online training organizations interested in learning about the CDA credential training and competency requirements.

Dr. Washington also provided training for CDA candidates and a group of PD Specialists-in-training during a visit to Eyas Kids Learning Academy, an English immersion preschool program (ages 2-5) in the city of Wuhan.

The Shanghai Hongqiao International School, a private school interested in the CDA program, hosted Dr. Washington for a meeting with another cohort group of CDA candidates in Shanghai -China's financial center.

We look forward to sharing more about this international milestone with you in upcoming newsletters!