EduHK- Forming the teachers of tomorrow

Both the early learning and sports education industries equire that educators be sufficiently qualified, and two of the degrees offered by the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) have been designed to meet this growing need. EdUHK’s five-year full-time Bachelor of Education (Honours), Early Childhood Education (ECE) has been structured to develop outstanding early childhood educators, while the five-year, fulltime Bachelor of Education (Honours), Physical Education (HPE) aims to produce qualified physical education teachers for both primary and secondary schools.

ECE programme coordinator Dr Betty Wong Kit-mei says succesful graduates meet the requirements to register as qualified kindergarten teachers and child care workers under the Education Bureau and Social Welfare Department. “Most of our graduates start their careers as frontline practitioners, teaching in various early childhood settings, including special child care centers,” Wong says. In addition, graduates who have successfully completed the specified elective courses qualify as registered special child care workers.

EdUHK, formally known as the Hong Kong Institute of Education or HKIED before getting promoted to Hong Kong’s eighth publicly-funded university, has been offering early childhood teacher education since 2005. Currently, 84 per cent of Hong Kong’s primary school teachers and about 30 per cent of the city’s secondary school teachers are graduates of EdUHK.

Besides theories on child development and pedagogies in various learning domains, there are courses on working with parents and designing curricula for infants and toddlers. “Our students also experience unique, practical opportunities at the early childhood learning centre on our campus, and at other early childhood institutions in Hong Kong,” Wong adds.

Wong stresses the many lucrative career opportunities available to graduates. Many become principals and head teachers in kindergartens, or go on to complete their masters. “Some graduates work in other tertiary institutions as research assistants, project officers, and teacher educators,” explains Wong. “We also have graduates working at the Education Bureau as inspectors, and publishers of ECE related books,” she adds.

Applicants applying through the JUPAS system should have obtained minimum scores of Chinese language 3, English language 3, liberal studies 2, mathematics 2, and elective 2 in the HKDSE programme.

Fifth year ECE student Clara Ho Man-sze says her interest in early childhood education was shaped by her personality and beliefs. “I have always been interested in working with young children, and agree with [French priest and lecturer] Ernest Dimnet that ‘children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves’,” says Ho, who adds that she chose the programme so she could make a difference in children’s lives.