Shanghai education authorities will start dialect education in local kindergartens in 2014.

The move is part of the city's efforts to protect the local dialect, which is at risk of extinction, and help children speak it from childhood, according to the working plan for 2014 of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission.

Under Chinese rules, students and teachers must use Mandarin in class. Under Shanghai's pilot program, children will be encouraged to speak the Shanghai dialect during breaks and while playing games.

The pilot program will be carried out in 20 kindergartens in the city.