Subsidising Early
Childhood Education
43. Providing
quality education for our
next generation is an integral
part of government support
for the family. The Education
and Manpower Bureau issued
the Guide to Pre-primary
Curriculum earlier this
year, and has set up a
pre-primary education support
team to provide on-site
support on curriculum development
and education strategy
with a view to upgrading
the quality of pre-primary
education. The Standing
Committee on Language Education
and Research has also allocated
funds to enhance the effectiveness
of English language teaching
in kindergartens and to
subsidise overseas training
for teachers. To improve
kindergarten facilities,
we plan to allocate $70
million in the current
school year as a one-off
Capacity Enhancement Grant
for kindergartens to acquire
more books, a wider variety
of teaching aids, computers
and other teaching resources,
etc. The amount of grant
per student will be $500,
while the maximum amount
per kindergarten will be
$135,000.
44. So
far, we have focused on
supporting the development
of kindergartens. Next,
we will focus our resources
to support the family by
easing the financial burden
of parents. We will provide
fee assistance to parents
of children aged three
to six in the form of an “education
voucher”, and we
will rationalise all existing
fee assistance schemes.
Starting from the 2007-08
school year, we will provide,
in the form of vouchers
to parents, an annual subsidy
of up to $13,000 per student,
of which at least $10,000
must be used on fee subsidy,
with the remaining money
spent on teacher training.
With the gradual upgrading
of teachers’ academic
qualifications and corresponding
increases in salaries,
we plan to progressively
raise the level of subsidy.
By the 2011-12 school year,
the annual subsidy per
student will be $16,000
and will be used entirely
for fee subsidy. Any local
non-profit-making kindergartens
that charge fees not more
than $24,000 per student
per annum will be eligible
to redeem the “education
voucher” according
to their student intake.
To assist parents to choose
a kindergarten, all participating
kindergartens will be required
to provide information
on their facilities and
achievements, including
the academic qualifications
of the principals and teachers,
the number of teachers
and students, special features
of their curriculum, and
teaching arrangements.
To assure teaching quality,
they will also be subject
to classroom inspection.
45. To implement
the scheme, we estimate that
up to an additional $2 billion
will be required each year
by 2011-12. Ninety per cent
of students aged three to
six will benefit from the
scheme, while more than 80%
of kindergartens will be
eligible. We expect that
within five years all kindergarten
teachers will have obtained
a Diploma in Early Childhood
Education, while some will
have obtained a university
degree. We also encourage
all kindergarten principals
to pursue further studies
and obtain a degree by 2011-12. |
