Parents have welcomed the kindergarten subsidy scheme announced in the Policy Address, but the education sector voiced concerns about the sustainability of schools which still have to charge to carry on operations as well as the uncertain career paths of teachers.

There were also warnings of a possible talent loss from whole-day kindergartens to half-day ones.

According to the scheme, the government will offer a direct subsidy to local non-profit-making kindergartens for three-year quality half-day services for all local children, starting from the 2017-18 school year. The move will mean 70 to 85 percent of such kindergarten places will become free of charge.

An additional subsidy for eligible whole-day and long whole-day places and an improvement in the teacher-pupil ratio from the current 1:15 to 1:11 were also guaranteed.

According to government sources, the subsidy to each half-day kindergarten place will be around HK$32,000. The subsidy for each whole-day place will be HK$41,600, and that for long whole-day programs - providing services of long hours and on school holidays - HK$51,200.

Parents' choice might be affected as financial pressure was an important element, Alliance on the Fight for 15-year Free Education member Wong Siu-fung said - thus those kindergartens which still had to charge might face difficulties enrolling students.

But she felt the impact might not be significant as parents would still consider location and quality before making their decision. Wong added that the new subsidy already relieved a lot of the burden of tuition on parents.

Some teachers' groups said they were not satisfied, as the government did not set a clear salary level. Education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen worried this left new teachers uncertain about their careers. Kindergartens may try to keep the teachers' salaries at relatively low levels for a long time, curbing young people's willingness to take teaching jobs, Ip argued.

According to a government source, the authority will only set a minimum salary level of HK$18,000 a month for kindergarten teachers.

Whole-day kindergarten principals voiced concern about a possible struggle to keep staff. Chow Wai-chun, principle of Five Districts Business Welfare Association Cheung Chuk Shan Kindergarten, said parents had been paying a monthly tuition of HK$2,000 for a child. Now with the new subsidy, 88 students will receive a total of HK$4.2 million - still leaving a deficit of HK$1 million or more to fill, which means the HK$1,000 tuition has be charged for each child.

However, half-day kindergartens usually run two sessions, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, Chow said. This helps them to get more subsidies and offer better pay to experienced teachers. Thus she urged the government to improve support to whole-day kindergartens.

In the policy address, the government vowed to revise planning standards to offer more whole-day places progressively.

luisliu@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 01/14/2016 page2)