IN A Perspective on Education in Hong Kong, the report submitted in 1982 to the Governor by the visiting panel commissioned to offer advice on the education system of Hong Kong in light of the needs of the community, very high priority was advocated for the training of early childhood professional and ancillary staff. The panel advised that ''in the long term, kindergartens should become part of the aided sector.'' Those words of wisdom were offered more than a decade ago.
While the per capita Gross Domestic Product of Hong Kong rose from $29,169 in 1982 to $49,453 in 1992, pre-primary or kindergarten education is still not part of the aided sector. All kindergarten education in Hong Kong remains firmly in the private sector. The only differences between now and 1982 are that since 1989 the fee remission scheme funding parents who otherwise would be ''deterred for financial reasons from seeking kindergarten education for their children'' and a package of 12-week teacher training have been implemented.
The figure in 1992 showed that only about 42 per cent of kindergarten teachers were trained. In 1993, about 30 per cent of kindergartens have less than 40 per cent trained teachers. As to the academic qualifications of those teachers, about 90 per cent of the 7,705 teachers are Form Five graduates or below. The starting salary of untrained teachers can be as low as $4,000 while that of trained teachers about $6,000 per month.
WHEN parents pay a school fee amounting to around $1,000 plus about $150 in miscellaneous charges per month in one of the sought-after kindergartens in Kowloon Tong, their children are not exactly being put in the hands of trained professionals. The best that parents can hope for is that by 1995, the Education Department might legislate for 40 per cent as the minimum proportion of trained teachers in all kindergartens. Consultations with some kindergarten operators have, however, indicated that such legislated improvements could be realised only when subsidies come along.
While huge government revenue and philanthropists' donations pour into tertiary education, the same does not happen for kindergartens. We all reiterate that children are our future but we do not act as though we are convinced.
Only two per cent of the education budget of $1.6 billion for 1993, a sum of $37 million, goes on kindergarten education. Of the 190,000 children in kindergartens, each has a share of only about $200.
