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Following is a question by the Hon Michael Tien and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, in the Legislative Council today (April 17):
Question:
In recent years, an increasing number of parents enrol their children in playgroups for pre-school infants (playgroups), hoping to enhance the mental development of the infants or nurture the infants' physical and social skills. However, as playgroups are not subject to regulation by the Child Care Services Ordinance (Cap. 243) and the Education Ordinance (Cap. 279), some members of the public are concerned about the safety, quality and fees of playgroups, e.g. variations in quality and teacher-to-students ratio of playgroups, some playgroup operators demanding parents to make advance payment of fees for several months, and parents having no access to information on the playgroups for reference when enrolling their children in such playgroups. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) the authorities have regularly collected data and information about playgroups, including the numbers of playgroup operators and infants participating in playgroups; if they have, of the responsible government department, and whether they can provide such information; if they have not collected such information regularly, the reasons for that;
(b) the authorities have vetted the qualifications and background of playgroup operators and group teachers; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(c) it will stipulate requirements in respect of the teacher qualifications, teacher-to-students ratio and programme contents of playgroups and exercise regulatory control in these respects; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(d) it will set a ceiling on the amount of advance payment of fees which playgroup operators may collect; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(e) it will require playgroup operators to disclose to infants' parents the particulars of their playgroups (including teacher qualifications, teacher-to-students ratio and programme contents, etc.); if it will, how it will exercise regulatory control; if not, of the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
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. 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 Kindergartens and Child Care Centres (JOKC) 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 the JOKC 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. Playgroups for pre-school children are not subject to regulation of CCSO.
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, playgroups which do not provide educational courses (e.g. those aiming at children's mental development or at developing their physical and social skills) do not fall under the EO.
(a) As the activities offered by playgroups in general are not subject to the regulation of EO, EDB does not have statistics on playgroups as mentioned in the question.
(b) to (e) If an organisation provides educational courses, such as language learning, etc., irrespective of the mode of activities and the age of students, it 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. Schools registered or provisionally registered under the EO have to fulfil the requirements of the EO in respect of school premises, fees collection, teacher qualification, teacher-pupil ratio, curriculum, etc., and to comply with guidelines issued by EDB from time to time. EDB officers can also conduct visits to any school to ensure its compliance with the EO and it is being run satisfactorily.
Ends/Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:51
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