This year the Tianjin center is continuing its activities, but they are no longer free. Classes now cost RMB 30-45. Fees are subsidized by the government to encourage broader participation. Private schools often charge in excess of RMB 150 for similar services.

In Hebei Province’s Shijiazhuang RYB has also worked with the local government to provide services similar to those it offers in Tianjin. The public-private model for early childhood education works, and its prevalence is growing.

Many local governments, such as that of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, have begun carrying out programs offering free early instruction and reading materials to children and parents. Beijing has worked with RYB on its “Baby Plan” project and set up an infant education center in each of its 16 districts and counties.

Wang points out that local governments, having grown more aware of the benefits of early childhood education, proactively engage in research. They have been courting private education providers in their research programs, an acknowledgement that private players have been in the sector longer than their public equivalents.

“Baby Plan” is one of a slew of measures initiated by the government that aim to improve the welfare of families with infants aged zero to three. On May 5 this year it held its first free parent-child activity for 400 infants and their parents, while 1,000 more were waiting to fill vacant slots, according to registration statistics on the official Weibo (China’s twitter-like service) of the Beijing Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission. By year’s end, an estimated 12,000 infants will have attended the free activities and benefited from expert educators’ advice.

Shi Yanlai, founder and president of the RYB Institute, says Baby Plan is a vital step forward in pushing for public-private partnerships in the field of education. Such partnerships are rare in high school and university settings in China.

In 2011 the Beijing municipal government kicked off a three-year program that will eventually see an additional 75,000 places for infants in kindergartens. The plan should go a long way towards meeting the shortage of early childhood education centers in the capital.