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Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (May 12):
Question:
It has been learnt that an increasing number of private organisations run playgroups mainly for pre-school children for a fee. Quite a number of the establishments which provide these services are located in multi-storey commercial buildings, and a number of them are even located on the same floor in a building, and hence the situation of many children being present on the same floor of a building at the same time is very common. Regarding the safety of the establishments providing these playgroup services, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the total number of such establishments currently located in multi-storey commercial buildings;
(b) whether the authorities had, in the past three years, inspected the aforesaid establishments; if so, whether they had uncovered cases of violation of the Child Care Services Ordinance (Cap. 243) or the Education Ordinance (Cap. 279), and of the follow-up measures taken by the Government; and
(c) what measures, in particular those to safeguard the safety of children who are not accompanied by parents during such activities, are in place to enhance the safety of the aforesaid establishments?
Reply:
President,
(a) Under the Child Care Services Ordinance (CCSO) (Cap. 243), any premises which habitually receive at any one time more than five children who are under the age of three years for the purposes of care and supervision are required to be registered as a child care centre. Playgroups satisfying the above criteria must apply for registration under the CCSO. Currently, the registered child care centres are subject to regulation in accordance with the CCSO by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) and the Joint Office for Pre-primary Services (JOPS) set up under the Education Bureau (EDB). The SWD is responsible for the regulation of the child care centres specially providing care and supervision for children under the age of three while JOPS is responsible for the regulation of those which at the same time also provide education for children between 3 to 6 years old in the kindergarten-cum-child care centres. At present, there are 23 registered child care centres specially providing care and supervision for children under the age of three, and thus subject to regulation by the Social Welfare Department (SWD). Most of these centres operate on the premises of the government or non-government organisations or in private or public housing estates, with only one centre located in a commercial/residential building. Playgroups providing activities for pre-school children accompanied by parents are not subject to regulation by the SWD. As there is no classification of playgroups under the CCSO, SWD does not have statistics on "playgroups" as asked in the question.
In accordance with the Education Ordinance (EO) (Cap. 279), any institution, organisation or establishment which provides for 20 or more persons during any one day or eight or more persons at any one time, any nursery, kindergarten, primary, secondary or post secondary education or any other educational course by any means is required to be registered or provisionally registered as a school. Hence, any group which provides activities consisting of educational courses, such as language learning, etc, irrespective of the mode of activities and the age of students, is required to be registered or provisionally registered as a school under the EO so long as it meets the above thresholds regarding the number of students. As no separate school classification is maintained for "playgroups for young children", the EDB does not have statistics on playgroups located in multi-storey commercial buildings. Moreover, playgroups which do not provide educational activities (e.g. those aiming at children's mental development or at developing their physical and social skills) do not fall under the EO.
(b) For the three years from 2007-08 to 2009-10, over 140 inspections were conducted by the SWD and the JOPS, but no prosecution was instituted for violation of the CCSO. The SWD and the JOPS also conduct regular inspections on registered child care centres under its purview and spot checks on premises suspected to be used for the operation of unregistered child care centres.
In addition, for the three years from 2007-08 to 2009-10, the EDB handled 54 suspected cases where the establishments concerned which were not registered or provisionally registered as schools admitted children under the age of five. Of these cases, three were found upon the EDB's investigation to be subject to registration or provisional registration as schools under the EO. The EDB then issued warning letters to the operators and the teachers concerned. The operators of two of these establishments later applied for and were subsequently granted registration under the EO, while the other one has ceased operation.
(c) No separate definition of the term "playgroup" is provided in the CCSO or the EO. Nevertheless, a school registered or provisionally registered under the EO, or a child care centre registered under the CCSO, irrespective of its mode of operation or whether it is located in a commercial building, must comply with the requirements in areas such as fire service installation and equipment and sanitation under the relevant ordinances.
While the CCSO has provisions on various aspects of registered child care centres, including sanitation and fire service installations and equipment, the SWD conducts regular inspections on child care centres to ensure that their quality of service is up to the required standard. It also follows up on premises suspected to be used to operate child care centres without registration. In addition, under the CCSO, the operator of a registered child care centre is required to display the name under which the centre is registered and the certificate of registration in a conspicuous place at the centre. A list of registered child care centres is available at the SWD's website for public inspection. The SWD will continue to ensure the safety and quality of child care services.
Schools registered or provisionally registered under the EO and operating in a commercial building, irrespective of the mode of activities provided, are required to obtain as pre-requisites from the relevant authorities (e.g. the Fire Services Department and the Buildings Department) certificates or notices stating that the premises concerned are safe in structure and suitable for the purposes of a school to ensure safety quality. The EDB will also visit schools regularly. All schools registered or provisionally registered under the EO must display their certificates of registration or provisional registration in a conspicuous place in their premises. A list of registered/provisionally registered schools is also available at the EDB's website or Regional Education Offices for parents' inspection.
Ends/Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Issued at HKT 12:11
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