Getting a child into a good kindergarten is no small feat in Hong Kong. For parents from ethnic minority communities, it is even more challenging. From identifying a free kindergarten that can support their children’s learning needs, to dealing with discriminatory attitudes from schools, overcoming the language barrier in the admissions process, and making sure their children will not be segregated from their Chinese peers after they are accepted, parents have to jump over hurdle after hurdle to integrate their children into the mainstream education system and give them an early start in learning Chinese. This simple wish, however, is often dashed, as every one these obstacles can prove insurmountable. Since the implementation of the Free Quality Kindergarten Education Scheme in the 2017/18 school year, the Education Bureau has responded to the various challenges faced by parents from ethnic minority groups by revising the Administration Guide, Guidelines on Kindergarten Admission Arrangements, and Curriculum Guide, and by providing additional grants to kindergartens to support the learning of Chinese by children who do not speak the language. The bureau, however, has not monitored kindergartens’ adherence to these guidelines, resulting in about one in three children from ethnic minority groups being instructed in English, and about one in four learning easier forms of Chinese when compared to Chinese children in the same class. To determine whether the bureau guidelines have made kindergarten admission and education more equitable for ethnic minorities, we at Hong Kong Unison conducted a survey earlier this year of 232 ethnic minority parents who have children either applying for or studying in kindergartens under the free quality education scheme. Solving the language question for ethnic minority pupils We found that the challenges faced by ethnic minority parents persist, and schools are yet to provide an education of similar quality to all children. For example, minority parents continue to experience unwelcoming attitudes from kindergarten staff and some kindergartens still segregate non-Chinese from Chinese children. Children of ethnic minority groups remain at risk of a poor command of Chinese after three years of local education and they are unlikely to able to smoothly transition to mainstream primary schools. Minority children miss out on scholarships to top schools With neither enforcement nor monitoring in place, the few guidelines meant to support the education of ethnic minorities remain a show. The Education Bureau should actively step up monitoring, for example, make it mandatory to collect data on admissions, class arrangements and the performances of students from ethnic minority groups, so that a quality education is guaranteed for all, regardless of race. Phyllis Cheung, executive director, Hong Kong Unison