Second motion to seek review of kindergarten voucher programme

A second motion calling for an immediate review of the kindergarten voucher scheme will be put to the Legislative Council's education panel on Wednesday.

The motion put by education sector legislator Cheung Man-kwong comes after the Professional Teachers Union and 10 early-childhood-education groups jointly held a protest rally and march last month to demand changes to the scheme.

Key concerns about the scheme among nursery operators and parents include the way it has forced up the costs faced by whole-day nurseries and imposed higher fees on low-income families.

The rally was mounted to voice frustration at the Education Bureau's slow response to a motion demanding an immediate review of the scheme that was backed by the education panel in March.

Secretary for Education Michael Suen Ming-yeung at the March meeting said that the bureau would see what it could do to help children from low-income families and whole-day kindergartens.

However, Mr Suen asked for time to come up with proposals.

Undersecretary for Education Kenneth Chen Wei-on agreed at a Legco finance committee meeting several days later to review the HK$25,400 cap on the government's fee-remission scheme in relation to whole-day kindergartens.