Full-day kindergartens do not make kids smarter than those in half-day schools, Hong Kong study finds

Children who attend full-day ­kindergartens are not smarter or more well-adjusted than those who are in half-day programmes, but parents still believe it is better to spend a longer time in school, a University of Hong Kong study has found.

Researchers randomly selected 346 children, both boys and girls attending full- or half-day ­sessions at 15 kindergartens across the city and assessed them from 2015 to last year.

They found no significant ­difference in terms of the ­children’s language, cognitive, physical, social and emotional ­development.

But in the team’s interviews with about 300 parents, about seven in 10 wanted the option of whole-day kindergarten programmes for their three- to five-year-olds. About eight in 10 said a longer school day would help with social and emotional development while close to nine in 10 said their children would have better ­“self-care skills”.

Still, the researchers suggested education authorities establish full-day sessions at most of the city’s kindergartens, as this would help single parent or dual-income households with their childcare needs. “Hong Kong needs more ­family-based childcare. But some families with both parents ­working don’t have carers for their kids. It would be much better to have kids stay in school where teachers can guide them,” said ­research team leader Dr Li Hui, an ­associate professor of education.