Great strides for city in education and health care over past decade

Shanghai has been striving to provide its residents with better education and health services and has made great achievements in the last 10 years, local authorities said on Thursday.

Almost every child in the city now receives kindergarten, primary and secondary education.

More than half of the local working-age population have received higher education.

The city has also improved the construction of educational facilities, including childcare centers, that can be accessed within 15 minutes, according to Wang Ping, chief of the local educational authorities.

"We will also strengthen the legislative protection of preschool education for children up to the age of 6, which has been included in the annual legislative plan in Shanghai." Wang said during Thursday's press conference.

In the future, information about pre-school education will be available on the city's e-governance platform, Suishenban, Wang said.

"We want to provide an online platform with abundant and convenient information services for parents," Wang said.

Shanghai has 3,432 schools at various stages and categories with more than 3 million students enrolled.

In addition to primary and secondary education, more people want to pursue higher-level degrees, said Wang.

The number of undergraduate students in the city increased from 359,000 to 406,000 in the past 10 years, and graduate students increased from 127,000 to 233,300.

Among graduate students, postgraduates increased by 86.9 percent and doctoral candidates by 72.2 percent.

In addition to enhanced educational resources, the city is trying to provide locals with a more accessible and comprehensive medical system.

There are 6,317 medical institutions with 239,600 employees in Shanghai.

The city's average life expectancy is 84.11, 1.7 years more than 10 years ago.

Shanghai has prioritized balancing medical resources in urban and suburban areas.

More public hospitals with medical experts have been built in outskirt areas, especially the "five new cities," said Wu Jinglei, head of the local health commission.

Shanghai has introduced the five new cities development strategy in the suburban areas of Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang and Fengxian districts, as well as Nanhui in the Pudong New Area, to boost social and economic development.

"We also focus on providing more care for special populations, such as pregnant women, children and seniors in the city," Wu said.

Shanghai has built five national-level medical centers, including pediatric, neurology, psychological and infectious disease centers, with the country's leading medical resources.