Additional Subsidy for Whole-day/ Long Whole-day Kindergartens

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(ii) Major Repair

7.3.31 As for major repair, the Committee is of the view that for leased premises, major repair should be the responsibility of the owner rather than the KG tenant.

Hence, the Committee considers it not necessary to provide additional funding for them for the purpose.

7.3.32 As for other eligible KGs operating in self-owned school premises or premises owned by their SSBs with zero/nominal rent, the Committee recommends that the Government should consider providing subsidy to alleviate the financial burdens arising from major repair. EDB would need to work out the details about the eligibility criteria for such subsidy.

Other School-specific Subsidy

7.3.33 For other school-specific subsidies such as additional funding for KGs admitting a cluster of NCS students, the details are set out in Chapter 8.

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7.4.2 With regard to the current provision and enrolment of WD and LWD KGs, an uneven distribution among different districts is noted. Taking local NPM KGs operating only WD classes as an example, in the 2014/15 school year, the number of such KGs ranges from 3 (offering some 255 places) in Islands district to 26 (offering some 2 412 places) in Kwun Tong. The percentage of enrolment in these WD KGs out of the total number of KG students in the respective districts varied from 6.4% in Islands district to 22.3% in Yau Tsim Mong. Similarly, the number of LWD KGs ranges from 5 in Islands district (offering some 417 places) to 24 (offering some 2 282 places) in Kwun Tong. The percentage of enrolment in these LWD KGs out of the total number of KG students also varied from 6.3% in Kowloon City to 22.3% in Yau Tsim Mong.

7.4.3 As for financial support, the current subsidy of PEVS applies to all eligible KGs, irrespective of whether they are offering HD, WD or LWD programmes. On top of the resources under PEVS, eligible HD, WD and LWD KGs have also been receiving other funding from the Government, including reimbursement of rent, rates and government rent, with individual LWD KGs having reimbursement of management fee and air-conditioning charges. LWD KGs can also apply for funds under the Lotteries Fund through SWD to meet non-recurrent expenditure such as renovation and purchase of furniture and equipment. Currently, all LWD KGs are PEVS KGs.

Among those students attending WD classes, 50% of those in LWD KGs received fee remission while 55% of those in non-LWD KGs received fee remission in the 2013/14 school year.

The Stakeholders’ Views and Committee’s Deliberations

7.4.4 As deliberated in paragraph 7.1.8, the Committee considers that future free KG education should cover HD (3-hour) service as the basic provision. Yet, the Committee is fully aware that WD and LWD KGs have been an integral part of the KG

social needs of families and working parents. OCCS is provided on a full-day, half-day or two-hour sessional basis for children aged below six whose parents or carers have sudden engagements or various commitments. IP provides training and care for mildly disabled children aged two to six with a view to facilitating their future integration into the mainstream education system and the society.

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sector providing vital services to many families and working parents. Hence, their roles should be duly recognised.

7.4.5 To tie in with the population policy to release more women back into the local labour force, the Committee considers that additional support, such as in terms of an extra grant, should be in place to encourage KGs to provide more WD or LWD services. This does not mean that all WD or LWD services should be fully subsidised as a basic provision, but the additional support provided to WD and LWD KGs would enable those parents in need of such services to have more access to them and at a more affordable cost. In determining the level of extra grant, the Committee considers that the different operating hours, services provided and manpower requirements of WD and LWD KGs should be taken into consideration.

The Committee’s Recommendations

7.4.6 With a view to providing more support for working parents to tie in with the population policy which aims to unleash the potential of the local labour force, incentives should be provided to encourage KGs to offer more WD or LWD services.

7.4.7 After thorough deliberations, the Committee comes to a view that, from the planning angle, the existing planning standards for provision of KG (i.e. 730 HD and 250 WD places for every 1,000 children in the age group of three to under six) should be reviewed so as to increase the WD provision in housing estates as well as large-scale private development projects. The Committee feels that the planning standards could be revised progressively to 500 HD and 500 WD places for every 1,000 children in the age group of three to six. To cater for the changing needs for WD places, such demand and supply situation should be monitored and reviewed.

7.4.8 As for additional resources, the Committee recommends that the Government should consider providing a grant, which might be on a per capita basis, to eligible KGs offering WD places, to serve as an incentive to KGs for offering more WD places. With the provision of the WD grant, it is envisaged that school fees for WD classes would be lower and more affordable to parents and more KGs might be envisaged to provide WD services to cater for parents’ needs. As regards the level of

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additional subsidy for WD services, it is proposed to be 25% to 30% of the basic funding for HD services. EDB should devise the details.

7.4.9 For eligible LWD KGs, on top of the WD subsidy, the Committee is of the view that further resources would need to be provided to cater for the longer hours and more school days they operate. The amount of grant might be determined with reference to the manpower incurred for the extra hours of service, which should enable the KG to employ one to three headcounts, depending on the size of the KG.

EDB should devise the details.

7.4.10 Apart from proposing KGs which run WD/LWD services to receive additional subsidies to meet their respective operational needs, the Committee also considers it important for families in genuine need to benefit from the subsidies. Hence, albeit that KG student admission is basically a school-based matter, those families in need (e.g. where both parents are at work) should be given priority in admission. Last but not least, to facilitate needy families to receive WD/LWD services, the Committee recommends that the existing Kindergarten and Child Care Centre Fee Remission Scheme should continue.

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