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Following is a question by the Hon Emily Lau and in the absence of the Secretary for Education and Manpower, a written reply on early childhood teacher training by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Joseph W P Wong, in the Legislative Council today (February 2):

Question:

Regarding the enhancement of the professional competence of kindergarten (KG) teachers, will the Executive Authorities inform the Council?

(a) of the respective cumulative numbers of KG teachers who are holders of certificates, sub-degrees and degrees awarded by post-secondary institutions in each of the past three school years, and their respective percentages in the total numbers of KG teachers in the same periods;

(b) whether they have studied ways to improve the training courses for KG teachers, including the provision of more training places, if so, of the results of such studies; if not, whether they will carry out such studies;

(c) whether they have, as proposed by the Education Commission in September 2000, conducted a review to assess the feasibility of raising the entry qualification requirement of KG teachers to bachelor's degree level; if so, of the progress or outcome of the review; if the review outcome is in the affirmative, of the implementation timetable; if the review outcome is in the negative, the justifications for that; and

(d) whether they will allocate additional resources to encourage post-secondary institutions to offer more training courses at certificate or degree levels for KG teachers; if so, of the criteria for allocating the resources; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) Detailed breakdowns of KG teachers who are holders of certificates, sub-degrees, and degrees awarded by post-secondary institutions are not available. However, the respective cumulative numbers of KG teachers who are holders of certificates or degrees awarded by post-secondary institutions in early childhood education in years 2001, 2002 and 2003 are available, details as follows:

                  No. of KG teachers           Percentages in
Year             being holders of            the total numbers
                  certificates or               of KG teachers
                   degrees in early                    (%)
                   childhood education


2001(note 1)                 615                           7


2002(note 2)                 829                           9.8


2003(note 3)               1,065                         13.1

Note 2: Figures collected from Teachers' Survey as of mid September 2002

Note 3: Figures collected from Teachers' Survey as of mid September 2003

The existing policy is to require all serving KG principals to have completed Certificate in Early Childhood Education (C(ECE)) by 2005/06. The C(ECE) course is not a qualification requirement for serving KG teachers.

(b) The Government recognizes the importance of early childhood teacher training and has been implementing various measures to gradually raise the qualifications and quality of KG teachers and principals. Sufficient training places are also assured to achieve the policy targets. The policy measures include:

(i) to raise the entry requirements of KG teachers from two passes in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education (including one language subject) to five passes, including both Chinese and English, from the 2001/02 school year;

(ii) to require all newly recruited KG principals to have completed the Certificate in Early Childhood Education (C(ECE)) from September 2002;

(iii) to require all new KG teachers to possess a Qualified Kindergarten Teacher (QKT) qualification from the 2003/04 school year;

(iv) to require 100 per cent of QKTs (based on a teacher to pupil ratio of 1:15) by the 2004/05 school year; and

(v) to require all serving KG principals to have completed C(ECE) by the 2005/06 school year.

We have made steady progress in attaining the set policy targets and will review the situation in 2005/06 when all the existing policy commitments are delivered.

In fact, early childhood teacher training does not focus only on the attainment of formal qualifications. The Administration has provided other diversified professional development programmes and training opportunities to raise the professionalism of KG teachers, such as:

(i) to organise briefings on promoting the performance indicators for quality KG education;

(ii) to organise professional development seminars and workshops for serving KG teachers to strengthen their pedagogical knowledge and skills; and

(iii) to organise tailor-made courses for serving KG principals to enhance their leadership and management skills.

The Government will continue to provide opportunities to enhance both the qualifications and professional development of KG teachers and principals.

(c) The Education Commission in September 2000 recommended a long-term target to raise the entry qualifications of KG teachers to sub-degree or higher level. In moving towards this vision, we have started by requiring all newly recruited KG principals to have completed the C(ECE) from September 2002 and serving principals to have completed C(ECE) by the end of 2005/06 school year. A number of institutions also provide sub-degree and degree programmes on early childhood education on a self-financing basis.

(d) The Government will allocate additional resources to encourage post-secondary institutions to offer more training courses for KG teachers. In 2005/06, for example, the anticipated annual provision of subsidized in-service training places in C(ECE) will increase by about 150 compared with the previous provision. Together with other self-financing places, the anticipated provision is sufficient to upgrade all KG teachers to the Certificate level or above within six years.

Ends/Wednesday, February 2, 2005

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