**********************************************
The Secretary for Education (SED), Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, today (May 30) continued his duty visit to Korea.
In the morning, Mr Ng met with the Vice Minister of Education of the country, Dr Na Seung-il, to exchange views on the development of free kindergarten education and information technology in education.
Mr Ng noted that Korea also faced some challenges similar to those in Hong Kong while enhancing the quality and subvention for kindergarten education, such as funding arrangements and parents' expectations as well as teacher training and qualification, etc. He agreed that the introduction of free kindergarten education was no easy task but a complex issue concerning different stakeholders.
"To pave the way for practical free kindergarten education in Hong Kong, the Education Bureau has set up a committee with members from the kindergarten education sector, academics, professionals and parent representatives to prudently look into the issue and conduct relevant studies. It is expected that the committee will complete its task and make evidence-based recommendations to the Government within two years," he said.
In the afternoon, Mr Ng led a delegation to the Ewha Womans University where they visited its College of Education and attached kindergarten. They were briefed on the teaching programmes for prospective kindergarten teachers offered by the College, followed by class observation in the kindergarten.
The delegates then turned to the Korea Education and Research Information Service, which is a governmental organisation under the Ministry of Education focusing on the development of information technology in education, where they exchanged views on related issues including the development of digital textbooks.
Besides the SED, the delegates include the Chairman of the Committee on Free Kindergarten Education, Dr Moses Cheng; the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Education City Limited, Mr Victor Cheng; the Deputy Secretary for Education, Mrs Betty Ip; the Administrative Assistant to the SED, Mr Kenneth Cheng; and the Principal Assistant Secretary for Education (Education Infrastructure), Ms Jenny Chan.
Ends/Thursday, May 30, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:45
NNNN
