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The Secretary for Education and Manpower, Professor Arthur KC Li today (December 5) met about 20 representatives from an alliance of private independent kindergartens to listen to their views again on the education voucher scheme for the pre-primary sector.
"Over the past week, we have had frank discussions with different representatives from the KG sector in three rounds of meetings," Professor Li said after today's meeting.
"We understand that it would be difficult for a new policy to be fully supported by all stakeholders involved, given their different backgrounds and concerns. What we want to emphasise is that public money should be spent on education in full. Any request for the Government to subsidise profit-making private independent KGs would be against this fundamental principle."
"Some parents who were invited by the KG representatives to join today's meeting had a misconception that non-profit making KGs were inferior to private independent ones. I totally disagree and clarified such misunderstandings on the spot."
During the meeting, the Education and Manpower Bureau reiterated the following five basic principles for subsiding the pre-primary sector:
* Only non-profit-making KGs can redeem education vouchers to ensure all public money will be spent on education;
* KGs have to improve their quality and meet the prescribed standards within five years, after which substandard KGs will no longer be subsidised;
* The school fee must not exceed $24,000 per annum for half-day KGs or $48,000 for whole-day KGs;
* KGs have to enhance their transparency, disclosing to the public information on accounts, the qualifications and salaries of teachers, etc; and
* The Government will not set up a remuneration system for KG teachers, but welcomes the KG sector's initiative to establish its own salary scale for teachers.
The KG representatives would inform the bureau of their final position after further discussion among themselves.
In making its final decision, the bureau will take into full consideration interests of the majority of parents and students and society at large.
Ends/Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:37
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