Education in Hong Kong: Encyclopedia II - Education in Hong Kong - Pre-school / Nursery / Kindergarten education

Education in Hong Kong - Pre-school / Nursery / Kindergarten education

This is a non-compulsory, two - three year education before primary school. Since 1997, there have been various changes in the governments requirements of teaching staff and curriculum content. Most noticeably, has been the requirement that a ratio of staff must hold the proper qualifications in order to teach in kindergarten/preschool education and that Principals too, must hold relevant qualifications. Although kindergarten has always been viewed as the 'Cinderella' of the levels in education, these moves to improve the quality of the kindergarten service means that children are able to receive a richer foundation in their learning than only the kind of child-minding service which some centres provided a few years ago. The Hong Kong government now fully acknowledges the importance of a good early years education.

Kindergartens are registered with, and supervised by, the Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB). In September 2002, 143 700 children were enrolled in 777 kindergartens. Existing government assistance to kindergartens includes rent and rates reimbursement to non-profit-making kindergartens, purpose-built kindergarten premises in public housing estates, the Kindergarten Subsidy Scheme, the remission of fees to needy parents through the Kindergarten Fee Remission Scheme and provision of training programmes for teachers and principals.

Some kindergartens employ a 'morning' and 'afternoon' class system while others, catering to full-time working mothers, provide a whole day service. While most kindergarten's academic calendar run from September to the end of June each year, it is common for many of them to continue into July or run summer camps.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Pre-school / Nursery / Kindergarten education", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki