About 10 per cent of Hong Kong’s kindergartens at risk of closing amid emigration wave and low birth rate, teacher group warns
- To cope with low enrolment preschools could sack teachers, freeze salaries or resort to pay cuts, survey finds
- Financial pressure forced kindergartens to fire veteran teachers with higher pay which affected quality of education, says principal
About 10 per cent of Hong Kong’s kindergartens may close if enrolment continues to fall amid immigration wave and a record low birth rate, a teachers’ group has warned, after polling hundreds of preschools.
In releasing its findings on Tuesday, the Federation of Education Workers called for the government to increase the subsidy per pupil by one-fifth or provide a one-off grant of about HK$200 million (US$25.5 million) to HK$300 million.
A study conducted by the Federation of Education Workers on 230 kindergartens last December showed preschools operating half-day and full-day classes had 23 and 19 fewer K1 pupils, respectively, on average in the current academic year.
“The survey showed nearly 90 per cent of the kindergartens expected the enrolment to keep falling in the next academic year. Only 5 per cent expected there would be a rebound, as they may be situated in areas with new residential buildings,” said Nancy Lam Chui-ling, vice-chairman of the federation and a kindergarten principal.
Over 50 per cent of the respondents said they would sack teachers, more than 40 per cent would freeze salaries and nearly 20 per cent would resort to pay cuts, according to the survey.