XN000022-1996-01-08 — Page 44

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Report of Working Party on Kindergarten Education released

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The Working Party on Kindergarten Education has released its report setting out 25 recommendations aimed at harmonising pre-primary services.

The report has been submitted to the Secretary for Education and Manpower and the Secretary for Health and Welfare and released to relevant advisory boards and bodies for comments. It stated that the unification of pre-primary services in Hong Kong should be pursued within a practicable administrative and resource availability context and on the understanding that not all aspects of kindergarten and child care centre operations should be identical.

Some of the key recommendations of the working party such as a harmonised pay scale and an unified minimum entry qualification for kindergarten teachers and child care workers have already been implemented.

Among the recommendations in the report, the working party proposed that all kindergarten teachers and child-care workers should complete a common basic training programme before they are qualified for registration, and the acquired qualification should be recognised by both the Education Department and Social Welfare Department so that graduates may work in either kindergartens or child care centres. The working party also recommended a common curriculum guide for kindergartens and child care centres.

The working party re-affirmed that measures to enhance the standards of kindergarten education should not be delayed by attempts to unify pre-primary services. It noted that priority for improvement in kindergartens should be to raise the percentage of qualified kindergarten teachers to 40 per cent by September 1997.

With a view to bringing the service standards of kindergartens and child care centres closer, the working party recommended that a set of improved floor space requirements should apply to new kindergartens from the 1999-2000 school year. However, the permitted accommodation of existing kindergartens will not be affected.

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