{"id":4735,"date":"2026-08-28T10:19:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T02:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/origin.shaid.org.cn\/cctv-news-kindergartens-converted-into-nursing-homes-multiple-regions-explore-new-uses-for-idle-campus-facilities.html"},"modified":"2026-08-28T10:21:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T02:21:19","slug":"cctv-news-kindergartens-converted-into-nursing-homes-multiple-regions-explore-new-uses-for-idle-campus-facilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shaid.org.cn\/en\/cctv-news-kindergartens-converted-into-nursing-homes-multiple-regions-explore-new-uses-for-idle-campus-facilities.html","title":{"rendered":"CCTV News: Kindergartens converted into nursing homes, multiple regions explore new uses for idle campus facilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

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CCTV News: Kindergartens converted into nursing homes, multiple regions explore new uses for idle campus facilities<\/h2><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to data released by the Ministry of Education, the number of kindergartens nationwide in 2025 decreased by 21,400 compared to 2024, with the number of enrolled children dropping by 3.5847 million. On the other hand, by the end of 2025, the population aged 60 and above had exceeded 320 million. Between this ‘one decrease and one increase,’ a spatial relay from ‘children’s playgrounds’ to ‘elderly care nests’ is quietly unfolding across the country. Let’s visit Tianqiao District in Jinan, Shandong, to explore this transformation in practice.<\/p>\n

At the Sanjiaoxian Comprehensive Elderly Care Service Center on Baohua Street, Tianqiao District, Jinan City, Shandong Province, elderly residents are doing exercises and singing along to music. This single-story courtyard building was originally a private kindergarten with a history of over 30 years. As the demographic structure of the old urban area shifted and surrounding public kindergartens were gradually built and put into operation, enrollment at this private kindergarten continued to shrink. By the end of 2024, it faced closure, and the premises were about to become idle. Meanwhile, residents aged 60 and above account for as much as 38% of the Sanjiaoxian community, making the demand for nearby elderly care services extremely urgent.<\/p>\n

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Zhang Meng, Party Working Committee Secretary of Baohua Street, Tianqiao District, Jinan City, Shandong Province:<\/strong>How can we make use of this idle resource in our jurisdiction? Through visits to understand the needs of surrounding residents, the elderly expressed that there was no nearby elderly care service institution. Since it is a single-story structure, and the elderly may have mobility issues, we felt at the time that converting it into a comprehensive elderly care service center was very appropriate.<\/p>\n

Based on thorough research, the street office leveraged the building’s own advantages and launched the exploration of transforming ‘from kindergarten to elderly care.’ Gong Chengkun has been providing elderly care services at residents’ doorsteps for over a decade, operating more than 20 community elderly care projects in Jinan. This project caught his eye.<\/p>\n

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Gong Chengkun, Operator of the Sanjiaoxian Comprehensive Elderly Care Service Center on Baohua Street, Tianqiao District, Jinan City:<\/strong>A single-story courtyard is down-to-earth and comfortable – this is the kind of elderly care facility we dream of. The street office gave us strong support, with nearly 400,000 yuan in construction subsidies. If we can be rated as a three-star facility, we can also receive 100,000 yuan in subsidies each year. We also get residential rates for water and electricity, plus tax subsidies, which significantly reduces a large portion of our costs.<\/p>\n

Reporters observed that after the renovation, the elderly care service center is equipped with accessible handrails throughout, a dedicated accessible shower room, and a fire protection system upgraded to a higher standard for elderly care institutions. For elderly people with cognitive impairment, a cognitive training activity room has been specially set up. The former children’s kitchen has been transformed into a senior canteen through facility upgrades, providing on-site dining for residents and door-to-door meal delivery services for the community.<\/p>\n

Today, the elderly care service center offers more than 40 long-term care beds, and within six months of opening, the occupancy rate has reached 80%. Long-term care fees range from 4,000 to 5,000 yuan per month depending on the elderly person’s physical condition. It also provides diversified services such as day care, short-term rehabilitation, a senior canteen, in-home bathing assistance, and meal delivery with medical accompaniment. This affordable embedded elderly care at the doorstep has led many seniors to choose to spend their later years here.<\/p>\n

Beyond the iteration of spatial functions, the transformation of people is equally moving. Some early childhood educators who once cared for children chose to stay and found new professional value.<\/p>\n

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Zhang Aidong, Director of the Triangle Line Comprehensive Elderly Care Service Center, Baohua Street, Tianqiao District, Jinan:<\/strong>I was originally the director of this kindergarten and am now the head of the nursing home. I am very happy in my work. I feel my mindset is basically the same as before, and the residents are all very pleased, saying, ‘You helped raise my children, and now you are taking care of my elderly parents.’ I have also promised them that they can rest assured about the care of the elderly\u2014the seniors from the surrounding area feel very secure coming here.<\/p>\n

Zhang Yan, Assistant Director of the Triangle Line Comprehensive Elderly Care Service Center, Baohua Street, Tianqiao District, Jinan:<\/strong>I have learned a lot about changing diapers for the elderly, cleaning, nursing skills, and basic medical care. Everyone works together as one, and we gradually improve. The pay is much higher than before, and I am quite satisfied.<\/p>\n

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One Garden, One Policy<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/section>\n
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Exploring diverse paths for idle kindergarten facilities<\/h4>\n

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The ‘kindergarten-to-elderly-care’ conversion is finding new uses for idle kindergarten facilities. However, not all kindergartens have the physical conditions to be converted into elderly care institutions, and some regions are exploring more diversified revitalization approaches.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n

In Tianqiao District, Jinan, Shandong, the Sunflower Parent-Child House is holding the latest parenting public welfare class for nearby residents. Here, the same venue serves both infant and toddler care and community parent-child science activities for residents, which is an attempt by Tianqiao District to revitalize idle preschool education resources.<\/p>\n

Affected by the continued decline in birth rates, over the past three years, more than 40 private kindergartens in Tianqiao District have seen shrinking enrollment. Facing the current situation of idle preschool spaces, the local government has tailored solutions for different kindergartens based on their building conditions and surrounding population structure.<\/p>\n

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Zhang Tingting, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Chief Inspector of the Tianqiao District Education and Sports Bureau, Jinan:<\/strong>One kindergarten, one strategy, to find a way out for each. For kindergartens with insufficient enrollment, we actively encourage them to expand downward into nursery classes; the second option is elderly care institutions. Our region also has senior universities, and we can utilize venue resources, combined with local needs and demands, to proceed steadily.<\/p>\n

During interviews, reporters learned that expanding nursery classes, converting into nursing homes, serving senior universities, running night schools, and improving residents’ activity spaces are currently the main transformation directions for idle kindergartens. And ‘co-care for the elderly and young’ is becoming a new model.<\/p>\n

At Yu’an Ke’ai Kindergarten in Hangu Town, Chongqing High-tech Zone, before the new semester officially begins, resident Aunt Xiang brought her granddaughter early in the morning. However, today she was not there to drop the child off for kindergarten, but to attend activities at the elderly care service station activity room.<\/p>\n

The elderly care service station Aunt Xiang mentioned is located on the third floor of the kindergarten, which had been idle for a long time. Under the guidance of local public service departments, the kindergarten adopted a ‘private-run, public-assisted’ model to carry out age-friendly renovations on the floor. Functional areas for health care, wellness, reading, and leisure were established one by one, and the service station quickly became a popular place for nearby elderly residents to relax and socialize.<\/p>\n

Chongqing High-tech Zone<\/strong>Yu<\/strong>an Ke<\/strong>ai<\/strong>Li Jie, Head of the Kindergarten:<\/strong>After elderly people drop off their children at the kindergarten, they can come upstairs to participate in activities. On holidays, we organize intergenerational activities where the elderly and children can enjoy themselves together, fostering family bonding through interaction between generations.<\/p>\n

The “Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Deepening the Reform and Development of Elderly Care Services,” issued at the end of 2024, clearly proposes building integrated service complexes for the elderly and children, encouraging the revitalization of idle public spaces, and coordinating the layout of elderly care and childcare service facilities. This provides clear policy guidance for local practices. Now, from pilot exploration to top-level design, “co-care for the elderly and young” is moving from individual pioneering efforts to nationwide implementation.<\/p>\n

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Adapting to Demand<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/section>\n
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Preschool Teacher Colleges Add Elderly Care-Related Majors<\/h4>\n

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Spaces are transforming from single-function use to diversified, composite utilization. At the same time, the talent supply also needs to be adjusted accordingly. Some preschool teacher colleges are actively establishing elderly care-related majors to supply composite talents for the health and wellness industry.<\/p>\n

Suzhou Early Childhood Education College, a long-established preschool teacher college with a 50-year history, has for the first time this year launched a new major in Smart Health Elderly Care Services and Management. To strengthen the professional faculty, the college has hired practical training instructors from partner elderly care institutions to enrich frontline teaching, while also specifically recruiting high-level health and wellness professionals from society. The curriculum covers multiple areas, including daily care for the elderly, psychological care, prevention of common diseases, and health tourism management. The transition from cultivating early childhood educators to training professionals for elderly care services is significant, but in the college’s view, the humanistic qualities cultivated through preschool education are precisely the unique advantage for this transformation.<\/p>\n

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Head of the Smart Health Elderly Care Services and Management Major at Suzhou Early Childhood Education College<\/strong>Cai Ying<\/strong>:<\/strong>This kind of care for people requires long-term penetration and even a certain atmosphere. Our practical training system runs through almost the entire three years. While meeting spiritual needs, we also do not neglect life rehabilitation training and ability assessment, integrating medical care, elderly care, and education in multiple ways.<\/p>\n

Facing the continuously growing demand for elderly care service talents, Yancheng Kindergarten Teachers College made an earlier move, and its Smart Health Elderly Care Service and Management major has been running for four years.<\/p>\n

In the skills training center covering more than 7,000 square meters, hardware facilities such as rehabilitation equipment and simulated wards are all available. The relevant person in charge told reporters that teaching content originally used in preschool education, such as music therapy, dance, calligraphy, and sand painting, has been adapted and transformed into teaching modules for the elderly, including art therapy, psychological counseling, and recreational activities, becoming a distinctive competitive advantage in elderly care talent cultivation.<\/p>\n

The strong market demand has also driven the popularity of the major to keep rising. By the fall semester of 2026, the enrollment scale of this major has expanded to four classes, doubling in size. The overall employment rate of the first batch of 103 graduates reached 98%, and the job-matching employment rate exceeded 50%.<\/p>\n

Person in charge of the Smart Health Elderly Care Service and Management major at Yancheng Kindergarten Teachers College<\/strong>Ji<\/strong>Ze<\/strong>Win<\/strong>:<\/strong>Our enrollment has been quite popular since the first cohort in 2023. When I first arrived at this school, many students from other majors transferred to preschool education. In the past year or two, the trend has shifted, with many students wanting to transfer to the Smart Health Elderly Care and Management major, which also reflects a change in perception towards elderly care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Source: CCTV News<\/span><\/p>\n

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[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to data released by the Ministry of Education, the number of kindergartens nationwide in 2025 decreased by 21,400 compared to 2024, with the number of enrolled children dropping by 3.5847 million. On the other hand, by the end of 2025, the population aged 60 and above had exceeded 320 million. Between this ‘one decrease…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-trends","category-24","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaid.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaid.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaid.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaid.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaid.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shaid.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaid.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaid.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaid.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaid.org.cn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}