Upgrade puts pressure on kindergartens
The Government has been called on to increase kindergarten subsidies in the wake of many pre-schools' plans to raise fees by up to 10 per cent in the coming academic year.
The Education Department has received applications from 15 per cent of the SAR's 800 kindergartens to charge parents at least four per cent extra.
The trend is now being blamed on stricter qualification guidelines for kindergarten teachers leading to a rise in salary costs, in addition to the extra charges, such as art supplies, parties and outings, that must now be included in the basic fee.
In a bid to improve quality, the Government requires new entrants to kindergarten teaching to have at least five HKCEE passes instead of two from this September, while from 2003 all new teachers must also have completed a one-year full-time Qualified Kindergarten Teacher (QKT) course.
Last year, the Government announced a $100 million subsidy to cover teacher training costs, but many educators expressed dissatisfaction that no extra cash had been reserved for teachers' salaries.
'The extra salary cost for qualified teachers shouldn't be transferred to the parents,' said Tik Chi-yuen, chairman of the Committee on Home-School Co-operation. 'The Government should step in and help.'
Lorna Chan Kim-sang, Dean of the Hong Kong Institute of Education School of Early Childhood Education, agreed: 'Raising the entry requirements will help upgrade the whole profession, but salaries should be in line with a teacher's qualification.
'In reality, many private kindergartens find it hard to offer salaries to trained teachers according to the scale that is recommended by the Education Department.' She called for the Government to offer more subsidies to kindergartens to help meet the higher cost of staffing.
QKT teachers receive a minimum of $12,000 a month, based on Education Department recommendations, at least $3,000 more than those without QKT status.
This was a significant leap for kindergartens themselves to cover, but the Government should not find it too difficult to provide some help, according to Sister Kam Lai-cheng, principal of Precious Blood Kindergarten.
But Ho Chi-keung, Education Department kindergarten education officer, said kindergartens currently received an annual subsidy of $41,000 per class towards teachers' salaries. 'If teachers ask for more pay, it's an issue to be discussed between the employee and the staff,' Mr Ho said.
'A privately run kindergarten may need to increase school fees or find other means to maximise their resources,' he said.
But Mr Tik said the fixed government subsidy was not enough, as schools employing more than the 60 per cent minimum of trained staff received the same subsidy as those that employed less than the minimum.
Maggie Koong May-kay, World Organisation for Early Childhood Education Hong Kong vice-chair, said kindergarten teachers' academic competence was 'essential'.
Early education was a 'crucial time when a child develops linguistic and other abilities', she said. Each school was now required to have at least 60 per cent of its teaching staff qualified.
'New courses offered by local institutions should be able to provide enough new blood in a couple of years to make it 100 per cent,' she said.
