HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
28 June 1989
香港立法局—————————一九八九年六月二十八日
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If the Government and the public consider that children are an important sector of our community, and I am sure they do, a Child Commission should be set up to ensure, co-ordinate, monitor and evaluate that the rights of the child in Hong Kong are met and continue to improve services for them and as an ongoing issue.
Sir, with these words, I support the motion before Council.
MRS. FAN: Sir, I shall be speaking briefly on two issues in today's debate, the pre-school services and services for gifted children.
During the Budget debate two months ago, I spoke about the problems faced by the kindergarten sector. I only wish to add that the child care centres are also facing a retention problem due to the lack of an attractive career ladder. The artificial division between child care centre and the kindergarten under the supervision of two government departments, is confusing and unnecessary, although it is a historical phenomenon. Children develop at a very rapid pace between the age of two to five. There are psychologists who believe that the foundation or formation of basic traits of character is completed when a child reaches the age of five. The care, guidance and education needed by this age group of children is basically the same. Surely in any planning of pre-school services, the emphasis must be on the child's development at various stages rather than on administrative convenience. Pre-school services in Hong Kong is insufficient to meet community need, and the standard of such services is too varied. With more educated young couples and a tight employment market, most young couples are both working, so pre-school services has become a necessity rather than a luxury. While the financial implications of Government subsidizing pre-school services cannot be underestimated, I believe time has come for this Council to accept that for the well-being of our young children, Government has to be actively involved in supporting the improvement of quality of child care and kindergarten services. I do not think the taxpayers would object to expenditure in this area.
The Secretary for Education and Manpower told this Council in May that after much hard thought and detailed consideration of various options, he was nearly ready to put proposals on pre-primary services to the Executive Council. If I may, Sir, I wish to make three points for the Secretary's consideration. Firstly, I would urge the Education and Manpower Branch and the Education Department to give full and detailed consideration to the proposals and comments of the Alliance on the Improvement of Pre-primary Policies. This
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