Coronavirus: upheaval for 400 children as Hong Kong kindergarten warns it will have to close by end of July amid class suspensions

An international kindergarten in Hong Kong has warned it will fold in the summer – leaving more than 400 pupils in limbo – as class suspensions to tackle the coronavirus epidemic have badly hit its finances.

In a statement on Wednesday, Wellcome International Kindergarten and Nursery in Tuen Mun told parents it would cease operations on July 31, after the end of the school year, as it had faced financial difficulties following the withdrawal of pupils and increased rental costs.

The closure would affect about existing 200 kindergarten and nursery pupils as well as another 200 children who had already been admitted for the next school year.

Wellcome said it had sought help from education officials to find alternative places for pupils at nearby kindergartens.

However, principal Yannie Chau Man-yan told the Post the school’s supervisor was planning to take over the right to operate the school, but discussions were at an early stage.

Chau said parents of more than 90 of about 120 pre-nursery children, aged about two years old, had applied to leave the school since February following the Education Bureau’s suspension of classes amid the coronavirus outbreak.

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Some parents had also refused to pay tuition fees while classes were suspended, Chau said, although most were still paying.

Monthly tuition fees for half-day pre-nursery classes were about HK$4,500 and around HK$7,000 for a full day. Chau said fees from pre-nursery classes accounted for a major part of the school’s annual income, but did not provide figures.

Kindergartens, primary and secondary schools would reopen on April 20 at the earliest, the bureau said last month.

“Parents’ concerns are understandable, as it is challenging for kids as young as two years old to put on masks and sanitise their hands during school hours, which last for three hours at least,” she said.

“Also, whether the class suspension will be extended is still unknown … Some parents have already been suffering from financial difficulties at their jobs, not to mention paying for school fees.”

The school had provided an electronic-learning option through online videos but parents’ response was lukewarm, Chau added.

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But she said fewer than 10 out of more than 180 pupils in the kindergarten section had withdrawn so far, which she believed might be related to parents’ satisfaction with children getting places at their preferred primary schools in the past.

Wellcome, established in 2012, has operated for about eight years.

Many parents had signed a petition in favour of the school’s supervisor taking over operations, Chau said.

Many of the school’s 40 staff were working for only about two weeks each month and receiving half salaries, despite a one-off HK$80,000 subsidy for private and international kindergartens announced by the bureau in February.

“It is difficult to say how much the subsidy helps,” Chau said. “When you do the sums … [it works out at] only about HK$400 for each student.”

She said she had heard about at least three other kindergartens which faced closure if the class suspension was extended further.

Last month, a survey by the Professional Teachers’ Union, which represents about 85 per cent of educators in the city, found nearly 70 per cent of local kindergartens said parents had refused to pay tuition fees while classes were suspended. More than 130 kindergartens said there were pupils dropping out after the outbreak.

The Education Bureau said in a reply they had contacted Wellcome and would provide assistance to those pupils who wished to study at other kindergartens, adding that there were sufficient kindergarten places in the Tuen Mun district to cater all affected students.