üChina: The State Administration for Market Regulationand the Ministry of Education issued the Provisions on Kindergartens'Food Safety Responsibilities, taking effect onJune 1, 2026. The key terms included thatkindergarten food suppliers must have had zero food safety accidents in the past 3 years; a meal-accompanying system is required; and market regulators must inspect kindergarten cafeterias at least twice per semester.
üAfrica:At the 2026 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group, the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) urged the formal inclusion of girls' education into Africa's core development financing agenda, stressing that this is a strategic investment for long-term economic transformation and sustainable development.
üInternational Organization: The OECD report,Building Strong Foundations for Life: Findings from the 2025 Early Learning and Child Well-being Study, reveals significant socio-economic and gender gaps in five-year-olds' developmental outcomes. It finds that the duration of early education participation and the quality of the home learning environment are key factors influencing children's foundational learning skills.
üUnited States:U.S. Department of Education reaches consensus on higher education accreditation system reform, including simplified credit transfer, stricter conflict-of-interest controls, lower barriers for new accreditors, reduced costs, emphasis on student outcomes, and protection of academic freedom and intellectual diversity.
China: The Provisions on Kindergartens' Food Safety Responsibilities will officially take effect on June 1, 2026.
The State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Education have issued the Provisions on the Supervision and Administration of the Implementation of the Primary Responsibility for Food Safety by Kindergartens, which shall officially come into effect on June 1, 2026. Tailoring to the dietary characteristics of young children, the Provisions establish food safety arrangements that are stricter than those for otherschools. Core contents include specifying that kindergarten food ingredient suppliers must not have had any food safety accidents in the past three years; prohibiting the procurement of bulk unpackaged foods such as pastries and hamburgers from outside the kindergarten, as well as bulk unpackaged cooking oil and salt; banning the preparation and sale of high-risk foods such as cold deli meats, raw foods, green beans, and wild mushrooms, with the principle of not using food additives; stipulating that the interval between cooking and consumption must not exceed two hours, and delivery must use dedicated, sealed, and insulated facilities; and requiring tableware to be independently washed and disinfected on-site, banning the use of externally centrally-disinfected reusable tableware. Additionally, kindergartens must establish a meal-accompanying system for collective dining, where a person in charge dines with the children at every meal, and parents are encouraged to do the same. Market regulation departments shall inspect kindergarten cafeterias no less than twice per semester, and impose heavier penalties in accordance with the law for any violations.
Source: the Ministry of Educationof China
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/vyJdqouCkcXwWXYNpCWXfQCompiler:HE Yale, UNESCO-TEC
Africa: FAWE Calls for Integrating Girls' Education into AfDB's Core Financing Agenda
From May 25 to 29, during the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group's Annual Meetings held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) called for girls' education to be integrated into the core financing agenda.
Kossi Tessenou, Senior Communications Officer at FAWE, noted that investment in girls' and young women's education is not merely a social expenditure, but a strategic investment for driving Africa's long-term economic transformation. Empirical research indicates significant funding gaps persist in secondary, higher, and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) across Africa, constraining the protection of women's educational rights. Case studies demonstrate that targeted investment in girls' education can yield substantial returns in economic growth, social cohesion, and intergenerational well-being.
FAWE emphasized that sustained, robust, and scalable financing for girls' education is both a foundation for implementing the African Union's Agenda 2063 and a prerequisite for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Source:Forum for African Women Educationalists Website
https://fawe.org/en/fawe-brings-girls-education-to-the-forefront-of-development-financing-conversations-at-2026-afdb-annual-meetings-in-brazzaville/https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/nEvuWlXT_aNSJ7R2YAizFg
Compilers:SUNZhihua, RIICE, Shanghai Normal University;XIA Yuxuan, UNESCO-TEC
International Organization:OECD Releases 2025 Early Learning Study, Finds Significant Gaps in Five-Year-Olds' Development
The OECD has released its report, Building Strong Foundations for Life: Findings from the 2025 Early Learning and Child Well-being Study. Based on assessments of over 23,000 five-year-olds across eight countries and sub-national entities, the study maps early development across three domains: foundational learning, executive functions, and socio-emotional development.
Key findings show that between 22% and 36% of the variation in child development can be attributed to differences between early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. On equity, girls significantly outperform boys in socio-emotional development, while children from socio-economically advantaged backgrounds score 60 to 70 points higher in foundational learning than their disadvantaged peers. Notably, approximately 15% to 22% of socio-economically disadvantaged children demonstrate "developmental resilience".
Within the familialenvironment, maternal education level and parent-child reading activities are strongly and positively associated with child development. On average, 55% of children begin ECEC before age three, with those starting earlier showing better learning outcomes. However, current early education provision has yet to fully bridge the equity gap, with about one in ten children having experienced learning or behavioraldifficulties.
Source: OECD
https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/building-strong-foundations-for-life_02bf8efe-en.htmlhttps://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/OltSqpfrOwYPOcfh5nGNVg
Compilers:CUI Zichen, RIICE, Shanghai Normal University; XIA Yuxuan, UNESCO-TEC
United States:Department of Education Reaches Consensus on Higher Education Accreditation Reform, Advancing Modernization of Higher Education
On May 21, 2026, representatives from various offices of the U.S. Department of Education reached consensus on a proposed accreditation framework at the "Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization" (AIM) negotiated rulemaking session, aiming to implement the Trump Administration's vision for reforming the higher education accreditation system .
The meeting made several major revisions to the existing accreditation framework. First, it requires accreditors to ensure institutions streamline transfer of credit policies, lowering costs and shortening time to completion for students. Second, it strengthens conflict of interest controls, prohibiting accreditors from sharing resources with affiliated trade associations and requiring prominent disclosure of such relationships on their websites. Third, it eliminates the requirement that new accreditors conduct accreditation activities for at least two years prior to receiving federal recognition, lowering barriers to entry to encourage competition. Fourth, it requires accreditation work to avoid unnecessary financial, compliance, and administrative burdens, with the resulting cost savings to be passed on to students. Fifth, it emphasizes student outcomes as the core of evaluation, including performance on standardized assessments, licensure or certification results, retention, completion and graduation rates. Sixth, it requires institutions to maintain academic freedom protections, prevent research misconduct, protect civil rights and, as applicable, First Amendment rights, and support, promote, and appropriately prioritize intellectual diversity and the free exchange of ideas among faculty.
Source:U.S. Department of Education
https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-reaches-consensus-reform-and-strengthen-americas-higher-education-accreditation-systemCompilers:FANG Fan, RIICE, Shanghai Normal University;FENGJiamiao, UNESCO-TEC
