Government efforts to spur acceptance of ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong kindergartens prove effective, as intake in preschools grow
- Subsidy scheme shows promise, with half of participating preschools enrolling an average of six more pupils from the demographic
- But recent decision to drop Hindi and Urdu as foreign language subjects from local university admission tests slammed for lack of consistency
A government subsidy scheme to encourage kindergartens in Hong Kong to accept children of ethnic minority groups appears to have paid off, as a study has found about half of participating preschools have enrolled an average of six additional pupils from the demographic.
While hailing the subsidy scheme as a good start, concern group Hong Kong Unison on Thursday criticised a decision by examination authorities to drop Hindi and Urdu as foreign language subjects from local university admission tests.
Unison executive director John Tse Wing-ling called for a more consistent education policy in offering opportunities for students of ethnic minorities.
The new study assessing the effectiveness of the government’s Kindergarten Education Scheme found about two-thirds, or 107, of 161 preschools had pupils from ethnic minority groups.
Among them, almost half, or 51, reported they had accepted more pupils from the demographic because of the government’s financial incentives.
Under the scheme, kindergartens can obtain additional grants based on the number of non-Chinese-speaking pupils they admit, from HK$51,710 a year for enrolling between one to four, HK$397,920 for between eight and 15, and up to HK$795,840 for those that admit 31 or more.