ENG-2006 — Page 183

Education | 151

Early Childhood Education

All kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres are required to register under the Education Ordinance. Since the 2004-05 school year, all kindergartens are required to employ Qualified Kindergarten Teachers. The aim is to upgrade the professional qualifications of all kindergarten teachers and principals to the diploma and bachelor's degree levels respectively by the end of the 2011-12 school year.

The EMB has revised the 'Guide to the Pre-primary Curriculum' for implementation in September 2007. It provides the basic principles and direction for preschool educators to develop their school-based programme.

Meanwhile, the Government has been steadily improving the teacher-pupil ratio in kindergartens since September 2001. The existing ratio is 1:15.

The quality assurance system for kindergartens has also come under scrutiny. Whereas in the past, this was pursued through inspections, now a system of self-evaluation supported by an external review process is in place. Kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres are encouraged to conduct annual self-evaluations based on common indicators developed for this purpose. The results of these self-evaluations are then validated by external reviews.

School Education

Free and universal basic education is provided for children aged six to 15 — six years of primary education plus three years of secondary education. Admission to Primary 1 in aided and government schools is administered through a centralised system, and all Primary 6 students are provided with secondary school places. All Secondary 3 students who are willing and able to continue with their studies are given the opportunity to receive subsidised Secondary 4 education or vocational training. About one-third of Secondary 5 leavers may further their studies in subsidised Secondary 6 and 7 school places. The implementation of the NSS curriculum in the 2009-10 school year will enable students to complete six years of secondary education (three-year junior and three-year senior secondary education) in the same school.

In September 2006, a total of 357 500 children were enrolled in government and aided primary schools and 413 200 children in government and aided secondary schools. Government and aided school places made up about 90 per cent of school places. In addition, there were 64 Direct Subsidy Scheme schools, offering about six per cent of the school places.

As at September 2006, there were 55 international schools, including 15 schools operated by the English Schools Foundation in Hong Kong. These schools form an important social infrastructure in keeping with Hong Kong's status as an international business centre and a vibrant cosmopolitan city. They offer different non-local curricula, including American, Australian, British, Canadian, French, German-Swiss, Japanese, Korean and Singaporean, and provide a total of 36 900 places.