Letters | Race should not matter for getting a quality kindergarten education in Hong Kong

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.

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.