Half your wage on kindergarten: Hongkongers struggling to pay bills, survey reveals
Nearly a fifth of parents polled in a survey fork out up to half of their monthly disposable income on kindergarten education for their children..
The survey, conducted by the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong among 5,652 parents of kindergarten pupils in September and October, found most wanted to enrol their children at schools with whole-day operations or whole-day kindergartens.
Almost all respondents said they believed full government subsidies should be provided to kindergartens with whole-day operations when the free kindergarten policy is implemented.
A report to the Education Bureau released earlier this year proposed that only half-day kindergartens should be entitled to full subsidies.
It proposed capping subsidies for whole-day kindergarten sessions at 30 per cent above the proposed subsidy for half-day sessions. This means 40 per cent of parents may still have to pay fees for their children.
The government-appointed Committee on Free Kindergarten Education’s recommendations prompted parents, educators and politicians from across the board to criticise the report as offering “fake free kindergarten education”, even though the committee insisted that the package was “practical and practicable”.
Committee chairman Moses Cheng Mo-chi said he expected the free kindergarten policy to start in the 2017-18 school year at the soonest.
According to the DAB survey, more than half of those polled were working parents. About 88 per cent of those polled spent more than 20 per cent of their household income – after rent or mortgage payments are deducted – on kindergarten education, while 20 per cent spent more than half.
The group urged the government to provide full subsidies to full-day kindergartens as well as improve training and working conditions for kindergarten teachers.
