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LCQ2: Review on pre-primary education
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    Following is a question by Dr the Hon Yeung Sum and a reply by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Professor Arthur K C Li, in the Legislative Council today (May 10):

Question:

     It has been reported that the Education and Manpower Bureau is conducting a comprehensive review on the policy on Early Childhood Education ("ECE"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)  of the details and completion date of the review; and

(b)  whether it will fully subsidise ECE and introduce measures to upgrade the qualifications of kindergarten teachers; if it will, of the details, the annual expenditure involved in subsidising ECE and the annual number of kindergarten teachers whose pay will be fully subsidised; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a)  Recently, the review on pre-primary education has drawn much attention and given rise to a lot of speculations. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to brief Members of the details.

Aim of the Review
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     Pre-primary education lays the foundation for life-long learning and all-round development. It is also a key learning stage in addition to the nine-year basic education. For this reason, although pre-primary education is privately run, the government has a policy to ensure its quality and healthy development. The policy on pre-primary education was first announced in the White Paper on "Primary Education and Pre-primary Services" released in 1981. In the ensuing years, new policy initiatives have been introduced to further enhance the quality of pre-primary education, including:

* to raise the entry requirements of kindergarten (KG) teachers, requiring all new KG teachers to possess the Qualified Kindergarten Teacher (QKT) qualification;

* to gradually increase the percentage of QKTs from 40% in 1997 to 100% in the 2004/05 school year;

* to raise the qualification of newly appointed KG principals to Certificate in Early Childhood Education (C(ECE)), and require that all serving principals have to complete the same qualification by the 2005/06 school year;

* to improve the teacher to pupil ratio from 1:20 and 1:30 for nursery and kindergarten classes in 1997 to 1:15 for all levels;

* to establish a set of performance indicators for child development, to promote effective self-evaluation for schools and their continuing improvement, and to carry out school inspections for quality assurance purposes; and

* to consolidate early childhood education services, including the harmonisation of teacher qualifications for KGs and child care centres (CCCs) and their operation guidelines, etc.

     We are pleased to see that, with the concerted efforts of the government and the sector over the past years, these policy initiatives have been implemented, and that the qualifications of teachers and the operation standard of pre-primary education have significantly improved. This year, the Education and Manpower Bureau decided to initiate a review on pre-primary education to chart the way forward.

Scope of the Review
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     The main focus of this review includes setting long-term policy targets, upgrading teacher qualifications and their remuneration, developing a quality assurance mechanism and reviewing the mode of subsidy and the use of resources.  Pre-primary education does not only mean formal school education. The healthy development of our children also requires other supporting measures.  Therefore, in the review we will also look into other aspects such as parent education, interface with primary education, teaching and learning of English as the second language and school-based support.  We hope to formulate comprehensive and forward-looking proposals for pre-primary education.

Concerns to be addressed in the Review
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     Increasing resources alone cannot enhance the quality of education. We have to take into account the proper use of public money and consider the impact of new policies in the longer term, and we need to understand our limitations and difficulties, in order to develop the right proposals. Now let me set out some of the issues that we need to consider, in terms of teacher training and the mode of subsidy.

(1)  Teacher training and remuneration

     In the past, we had gradually trained up a pool of teachers with QKT qualifications and principals with C(ECE) qualifications. We intend to further upgrade teachers¡¦qualifications to certificate level, and we fully understand that it is a global trend for degree holders specialised in early childhood education to take up posts of KG principals or teachers.

     However, as we work towards raising teachers¡¦qualifications, we have to be pragmatic about the local situation. Although at present principals and teachers have already obtained C(ECE) and QKT qualifications respectively, about 7 200 serving local teachers (around 74% of the total teacher population) and about 540 principals (around 60% of the total principal population) have completed education at Secondary 5 level or below. Although we encourage life-long learning, we know that if we are to set a mandatory timeline for all serving principals and teachers to obtain higher qualifications, there will undoubtedly be pressure on our teachers and this will in turn affect the quality of teaching. On the other hand, if teachers are free to pursue professional training, will they have the motivation to do so? Should we enhance pre-service training and should we make in-service training more diverse and flexible?

     As regards the supporting measures, if the salary of KG teachers is to be raised to a level comparable to that of primary school teachers, there may be a corresponding increase in school expenditure and in parents¡¦contribution. We therefore hope that the sector can understand the implications of the various measures as they put forth their proposals.

(2) Mode of subsidy and use of resources

     There are currently 1062 privately-run KGs, about 70% of which are non-profit making (NPM) and the other 30% are private independent ones. There are KGs with less than 10 students while some have more than 1800. Their tuition fees also vary, from around $400 to nearly $5,800 per instalment. The performance of KGs also varies. In the circumstances, we have to be objective and prudent in contemplating full or partial subvention, lest public money is spent without actually raising the quality of pre-primary education.

     Even if we are to provide additional subsidies, we have to set priorities. Should we put improving school facilities in the first place, or enhancing teacher training, or assisting parents by granting them fee remission? Should the additional subsidy be given to all, so as to satisfy everybody, or should it be given only to eligible schools fulfilling specific criteria?  Furthermore, will the amounts of money meet the expectation of the sector? With the additional subsidies, will the schools be prepared to accept a highly transparent monitoring and accountability system? What impact will the new measures have on the existing financial assistance schemes? We need to take all these into consideration.

Progress of the Review
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     We are now collecting views from different stakeholders, including frontline staff, tertiary institutions providing teacher training, pre-primary service providers and parents, with a view to finalising the proposals in mid-2007.

(b)  As regards part (b) of the question, as mentioned above, we have just started the review on pre-primary education. We have not finalised our proposals, and different proposals and supporting measures may carry different resource implications.

     In fact, the government has been allocating over $1.3 billion each year to subsidise pre-primary education. In 2005/06, the estimated expenditure on the Kindergarten and Child Care Centre Fee Remission Scheme is around $900 million. The government also reimburses NPM KGs of rent, rates and government rent and the estimated expenditure is around $200 million in 2005/06. In addition, the Kindergarten and Child Care Centre Subsidy Scheme provides direct subsidies to NPM KGs so that they may appoint 100% QKTs without increasing their tuition fees substantially.  The estimated expenditure in this regard is around $200 million in 2005/06.

     The current review will, amongst other things, look into the mode and use of subsidy. When considering the different proposals, we will try to make full use of the available resources. No matter how, the government policy on financial assistance will always ensure that no student is deprived of pre-primary education because of the lack of means.

Ends/Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:20

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