Free kindergarten education will boost the whole of society
Sue Grieshaber says to prepare for the launch of free kindergarten education, we must learn from international studies to design a system that fosters quality and leaves no child behind
Hong Kong is getting ready for 15 years of free education, which will be groundbreaking if achieved. As it will take the Committee on Free Kindergarten Education two years to come up with a set of recommendations, what issues should be considered? How can a high-quality, publicly funded kindergarten system be developed that also supports the changing nature of society?
Free kindergarten education is considered essential by many involved in early childhood education. Parents in Hong Kong have shouldered the major responsibility for fees for many years, and want to be relieved of the expense. This became clear with the release of findings by the Hong Kong Institute of Education indicating that more than 90 per cent of 2,343 parents surveyed supported full subsidisation of kindergarten education.
Benefits to societies of high-quality early childhood education are greater than the costs, analyses show
Historically, the government has accepted little responsibility for the provision of universal kindergarten education, preferring a market approach. But this creates volatility in terms of supply and demand, affecting quality. Government involvement creates stability. This in turn produces less disruption economically, especially for societies with declining birth rates, increasing numbers of migrants, children with additional needs, and a rise in family poverty.
The committee and subcommittees will be deliberating on many of the same issues that have been debated worldwide: the purpose of kindergarten education, choice, demand, service types, governance, quality, teacher qualifications, vouchers, access, government costs, teacher salaries, teacher-child ratios, curriculum, assessment, and children with additional needs, to name a few.
Other considerations are the share of the city's gross domestic product spent on early childhood education, the child poverty rate, migrants and the immigration rate, the birth rate, and existing and required services to support all children and families.
The Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development suggests that state-provided early childhood education is a public good and, because of this, it should be a state responsibility. It also recommends that 1 per cent of GDP be spent on such education. Countries like Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, however, spend much more.
The arguments for considering early childhood education as a public good are similar to those used in favour of publicly funded primary and secondary education. Government provision of high-quality early childhood programmes contributes to the health of a nation's children.