Angry parents protest at mainland Chinese children being given preschool places
Protesters call for government to put local children first in kindergarten applications, while association head suggests new system
Hundreds of parents took to the streets in Fanling yesterday demanding the government intervene in a crisis over kindergarten places in North District and allocate them to local children before mainlanders.
Thousands of parents, mostly from the mainland, thronged outside kindergartens in the northern New Territories last week hoping to secure application forms for their children.
Chanting slogans calling for Education Minister Eddie Ng Hak-kim to step down, parents also called on the government to "stamp out" the practice of scalpers and agents holding places in queues for mainland parents wanting to get application forms.
Parents wearing red, to show their anger, and many pushing prams marched to the North District Government Offices. Among them was Mrs Wong, a mother of two who lives in Tai Po but who joined the protest to support parents in North District.
She said it was unfair for the next generation to "bear the consequences" of the Chong Fung-yuen case in which the Court of Final Appeal granted children who were born in Hong Kong the right of abode, even if they had mainland parents.
"It won't solve the problem even if local children are given priority in allocation of kindergarten places," Wong said.