Full marks for Hong Kong’s new Free Quality Kindergarten Education Scheme
City’s parents and teachers welcome scheme’s agenda for affordable education and easier access to specific services
It may be a little early to give a definitive verdict, but most signs point to the government earning full marks – and perhaps a gold star or two – for the Free Quality Kindergarten Education Scheme, which came into effect from the 2017/18 school year.
It marks another significant step towards the long-stated goal of providing 15 years’ free schooling for all eligible children and, overall, has been given a warm welcome by parents, teachers and administrators.
In essence, the new scheme was designed to largely replace the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme (PEVS) introduced in 2007. This granted parents direct fee subsidies, in the form of vouchers, to defray the cost of kindergarten classes and give choices.
The latest initiative takes things further. The main policy objective is still to provide a quality, affordable education from the early years, but it also looks to enhance accessibility to different “modes of services” which suit specific needs.
A key difference is that local non-profit-making kindergartens which join the scheme – rather than parents – now receive a basic subsidy for the provision of three-year, half-day (HD) teaching for all eligible pupils. This is intended to cover expenditure on salaries for teaching and support staff, and other normal operating costs. In principle, it should be enough to ensure there is no need to charge fees for half-day services, though without a built-in guarantee.