*******************************************
The Education Bureau (EDB) released the "Profile of Kindergartens and Kindergarten-cum-Child Care Centres 2012" today (September 20) at www.chsc.hk/kindergarten to enhance the transparency of kindergartens and provide essential information to assist parents in making an informed choice for their children.
"The Profile covers information on about 960 kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres, including the list of kindergartens joining the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme (PEVS) in the 2012/13 school year. The Profile also shows the approved school fees of kindergartens for the 2012/13 school year. For kindergartens joining the PEVS, their approved school fees after the redemption of vouchers are also shown," an EDB spokesman said.
The spokesman pointed out that other information includes the number of teaching staff, professional qualifications of the principal and teachers, enrolment statistics, teacher-to-pupil ratio and details of teaching and learning information of individual kindergartens as well as other charges they may collect.
The spokesman added, "All kindergartens joining the PEVS are required to disclose information on the application of funds to various expenditure areas, in addition to other essential operational and curriculum details.
"All kindergartens joining the PEVS are also required to undergo the Quality Review (QR) for quality assurance purposes. Regarding those kindergartens that have completed the QR process, information on whether they have met the prescribed standards is indicated in the Profile and the QR Report is accessible through the linkage provided."
Printed copies of the Profile will be available for parents' reference at the Regional Education Offices of EDB, Public Enquiry Service Centres of the Home Affairs Department, Maternal and Child Health Centres of the Department of Health, Integrated Family Service Centres of the Social Welfare Department and public libraries effective from October 31.
Ends/Thursday, September 20, 2012
Issued at HKT 12:05
NNNN
