Monitoring
Background and current situation
4.1 Scheme-KGs should follow the financial management guidelines issued by the EDB in handling financial arrangements and ledgers, and submit audited accounts to the EDB for inspection every year. As regards their sales of school uniforms, textbooks and refreshment, etc. (generally referred to as “miscellaneous charges”), they should not make profits exceeding the specified limit and should record the income of such charges in the annual audited accounts. Other monitoring measures include prohibiting Scheme-KGs from transferring any surplus (in whatever form, including donation) to their SSBs or other organisations. To meet the requirement of enhancing transparency, KGs should disclose their key operational details (including staff information, school facilities, curriculum, school finance information, and the additional charges for optional activities and items), and give consent to publish such information in the “Profile of Kindergartens and Kindergarten-cum-Child Care Centres” (KG Profile) released to the public. KGs should apply to the EDB for collection or adjustment of school fees. The EDB will handle the applications in accordance with the established criteria, for instance, the income and expenditure situation of KGs and whether the expenditure items are recognised.
4.2 Families with financial needs may apply for the Kindergarten and Child Care Centre Fee Remission Scheme (KCFRS) and the Grant for School-related Expenses for Kindergarten Students under the Student Finance Office to defray school fees and related expenses. Starting from the 2014/15 school year, the fee remission ceiling has been uplifted from the weighted average fees of KGs operating HD and WD programmes under the PEVS to the 75th percentile of school fees charged by these KGs.
4.3 Given that the Government’s recurrent expenditure on KG education has substantially increased under the Scheme, the EDB has the responsibility to enhance the governance and transparency of KGs, and step up monitoring. On financial matters, the EDB must ensure KGs’
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compliance with the relevant rules and regulations, as well as proper use of Government subsidies and non-government funds (e.g. school fees and surplus from trading operations, etc.). In this connection, we monitor KGs’ operation through various means, including routine inspections, quality review, focus inspection, annual submission of audited accounts audited by a certified public accountant, provision of more information in the annual publication of KG Profile and school websites, and requests for submission of relevant information when vetting various applications, etc.
On monitoring of school fees, the EDB rigorously examines every KG’s application for collecting school fees. The applications must be supported by sufficient justification and data. The KGs concerned have to prove that each expenditure item is necessary. Moreover, the EDB has set ceilings on school fees. KGs should prudently make use of the income from school fees, and ensure that all expenses are reasonable and appropriate to the needs. In principle, school fees collected should be directly used for learning and teaching, school operation and maintaining education services. In the school years from 2017/18 to 2020/21, Scheme-KGs, regardless of whether they applied for adjusting school fees, were required to submit schedules on details of the proposed school fees, estimated income, expenditure of each item, etc. for EDB’s approval for the fees.
4.4 For miscellaneous charges, the EDB has, through issuing circulars, reminded KGs to keep the sale of school items and provision of paid services to a minimum, and observe the guiding principles laid down in the EDB circulars, including purchase entirely on a voluntary basis, no profit from the sale of textbooks, profits from other items (if any) not to exceed 15%, etc. All profits from trading operations must be ploughed back into the KGs’ operation and provision of education services.
4.5 In addition, schools are currently required to disclose their key operational details, including school fees, application fee, registration fee and reference prices for school items sold and paid services provided.
Scheme-KGs should also give consent to publish such information in the KG Profile and upload such information onto their school websites for parents’ reference.
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4.6 To effectively monitor schools’ financial position, upon the end of each school year, Scheme-KGs should submit the audited accounts to the EDB. When the EDB considers whether a KG is eligible to stay in the Scheme, one of the requirements is submission of the annual audited accounts, follow up actions taken and rectification made in accordance with EDB’s requirements. In addition, the EDB also conducts audit inspections in a timely manner. If irregularities are found, the EDB will require the schools to follow up and provide assistance.
4.7 Under the principle of no cross-subsidisation, Scheme-KGs should apportion the income and expenditure among different portions (KG and child care centre), streams (local curriculum and non-local curriculum) and sessions (HD, WD and LWD). For HD and WD/LWD sessions, the ratio of expenditure between a HD student and a WD/LWD student should be, in principle, approximately 1:1.6 to 1:2. The proportion of income and expenditure among different sections and streams could be roughly determined according to the scale.
4.8 As regards the KCFRS, when implementing the Scheme from the 2017/18 school year, the Government followed the prevailing arrangements in fee remission with rates of 100%, 75% or 50% for KG students from families passing the means test and meeting the eligibility criteria under the KCFRS. The fee remission ceiling continues to be set at the 75th percentile of HD and WD school fees charged by the respective KGs.
Views and discussions
4.9 The KG sector generally agreed that, under the principle of prudent use of public funds, the EDB should properly monitor schools’
financial management. KGs were concerned about the administrative work and pressure arising from the detailed and stringent requirements in financial arrangements (e.g. procurement, issuing cheques / receipts, the apportionment of accounts, account keeping, etc.). The KG sector hoped that the EDB would understand the difficulties faced by KGs. Taking procurement as an example, KGs are required to follow the Guidelines on Procurement Procedures in Kindergartens in hiring services or making purchases, and preparing separate ledgers for different items. KGs urged
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the EDB to explore the feasibility of relaxing the financial requirements, or provide KGs with resources to employ an accounting clerk to assist in the relevant work.
4.10 At present, fee remission under the KCFRS is capped at the 75th percentile of school fees charged by Scheme-KGs. Parents need to pay the difference if the school fee charged by their children’s KG exceeds the ceiling. Regarding the applications for school fee revision, KGs generally considered that the information required is excessive and too detailed. In respect of trading operations, KGs opined that sales of school uniforms, textbooks and refreshment on parents’ behalf are primarily for parents’ convenience and seeking more reasonable prices for parents.
The sector considered the existing monitoring adequate, for example, purchase from parents is entirely on a voluntary basis; schools have to adopt procurement procedures that ensure fairness and justice, as required by the EDB; the profits should not exceed 15% of the costs and all the profits generated should be used for school operation. As for whether a ceiling should be set on each miscellaneous charge, the sector generally considered a rigidly fixed ceiling not feasible. It is because each KG has its own school-based needs, and the goods or services provided for the same item (e.g. food for snacks, and types and portions of drinks) may vary greatly among schools, and hence not comparable. Since only a very small number of schools might collect high charges for certain miscellaneous items, it was suggested that the EDB should take follow-up actions on the individual cases concerned. Flexibility and operational needs of the entire sector should not be affected merely because of a few exceptional cases.
Way forward
4.11 To further support families with financial needs and provide them with more school choices, the Government is seeking to adjust the fee remission ceiling under the KCFRS from the existing 75th percentile to the 100th percentile of the school fees charged by respective HD and WD Scheme-KGs, so that parents receiving full fee remission do not need to pay any difference. Consequential to raising the ceiling for full fee remission, the remission level for 50% and 75% remission will also be raised accordingly, hence benefitting these students as well. Taking the
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2020/21 school year as reference, it is estimated that about 4 800 KG students (including those who are receiving 100%, 75% and 50% fee remission), will benefit from the proposed enhancement.
4.12 Under the EDB’s current requirements, the ratio of expenditure between a HD student and a WD/LWD student should be, in principle, approximately 1:1.6 to 1:2. Having reviewed the situation of Scheme-KGs over the past few years, the EDB considers such an arrangement effective, which not only allows sufficient flexibility to cater for school-based circumstances, but also upholds the principle of no cross-subsidisation. As such, the arrangement will continue.
4.13 We will make best endeavours to strike a balance between effective monitoring and streamlining administration. On school fee revision, having regard to the views of the sector, the EDB has introduced simplified procedures to fee revision for the 2021/22 school year, in a bid to reduce schools’ administrative work and expedite the vetting process.
KGs only need to complete simple forms if they propose freezing or reducing school fees and they could submit more detailed information later, for which the EDB will provide a template for schools’ use. We will follow up on a case-by-case basis if irregularities are found in individual KGs. The EDB will make reference to the experience and explore the feasibility of expanding the coverage of the simplified procedures to KGs proposing fee increase not exceeding a specified percentage.
4.14 As regards financial management, since public funds are involved, schools should handle procurement and other financial matters in accordance with the relevant requirements. The EDB is of the view that employing additional accounting clerk does not provide a fundamental solution to the problem. Instead, it is more appropriate to look into the streamlining of administrative work and strengthening training. In this connection, the EDB will take forward the following measures:
(a) Providing more relevant training for school personnel responsible for administrative work and financial management, and providing schools with clearer and more detailed guidelines so that they could have better understanding of the principles, and thus provide the required information as appropriate.
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(b) Reviewing the forms and reports that schools currently need to submit and promoting the use of electronic means in the submission of forms and reports which facilitates easy editing and updating, hence reducing schools’ administrative work.
(c) Enhancing EDB’s webpages to facilitate more convenient access to information, tools and templates on financial management so as to better support schools in handling financial matters.
4.15 As regards miscellaneous charges, KGs currently are required to disclose in the KG Profile the cost of school items sold and paid services only if they are sold by the schools or procured on parents’ behalf. Yet, from the perspective of parents, the concern is on the charges they need to pay, instead of whether these services are sold by the schools. As such, to further enhance transparency, the EDB will require Scheme-KGs to list in the KG Profile the charges for major school items and services, regardless whether they are directly sold or procured on parents’ behalf.
To ensure that KGs act in line with the circulars and guidelines under the Scheme when conducting trading operations, the EDB will require KGs to undertake in the application form for joining the Scheme that they would follow the procurement procedures as required and declare any interest involved. If individual schools are found selling very expensive miscellaneous items, the EDB will approach the schools concerned to request for explanations and improvements.
Quality assurance
Background and current situation
4.16 Quality Assurance Framework for KGs comprises School Self-evaluation (SSE) and Quality Review (QR). All Scheme-KGs are required to conduct on-going SSE and undergo QR for promoting sustainable development in schools and accountability. To ensure thorough assessment on school performance, the EDB has formulated a set of comprehensive Performance Indicators (PIs). KGs should conduct a holistic review on their current state of performance with reference to the PIs. They should then compile and analyse their SSE findings to
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strategically devise a development plan for the following school year. In the QR process, review teams from the EDB will make professional judgment on the overall school performance by making reference to KG’s areas of concern and the PIs. During the on-site QR visits, the review teams will conduct lesson observations, scrutinise children’s work, interview principals, teaching staff, parents and children as well as review school documents so as to examine how KGs promote sustainable development through SSE. The QR reports will be uploaded onto the EDB website to facilitate parents’ and the public’s grasp of the relevant information.
4.17 Upon implementation of the Scheme, the EDB has refined the PIs by taking into account the development of KGs and characteristics in children’s development and learning. Under each of the four macro-level Domains, the PIs are subcategorised into tiers of Area, Performance Indicator, Aspect and Evidence of Performance. A set of Guiding Questions has been prepared under each Aspect. Differentiated Evidence of Performance has also been provided as reference to facilitate the sustainable development of KGs. The clearer, more precise and more user-friendly PIs enable KGs to conduct SSE in a more holistic and focused manner.
4.18 Regarding QR, the EDB holistically examines the effectiveness of KGs’ development with reference to the refined PIs to assess whether the schools have achieved the prescribed standards. If areas for improvement are identified, the EDB will specify them and offer recommendations in the QR reports so as to facilitate KGs’ self-improvement on a continuous basis. Starting from the 2018/19 school year, in addition to the Chinese version, English version of the QR report has been uploaded to the EDB website for reference of the public. When assessing a KG’s application for joining the Scheme, the EDB will also refer to the results of QR. To further enhance transparency and capitalise on the professional knowledge and experience of frontline principals, the EDB implemented a pilot scheme from the 2018/19 to 2020/21 school years, under which serving KG principals joined some QR visits as external observers. They would share their observation during the oral feedback session but would not assess school performance.
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4.19 Moreover, the EDB conducts focus inspection on a random basis in every school year to understand more about schools’ situation in the Domain of Learning and Teaching and to offer verbal and written feedback to schools. In the 2018/19 school year, the EDB doubled the number of focus inspection every year to around 50, so as to strengthen monitoring and ensure the quality of KG education.
4.20 From the QR conducted in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 school years18, KGs have in general made significant improvement in the following aspects as compared with previous years:
(a) When formulating policies, most KGs are able to fully consider and address the views of their staff, set up multi-dimensional channels to promote communication among staff and develop team spirit.
(b) In general, KGs can design their curriculum according to the objectives of education and children’s developmental needs. The coverage of the curriculum is comprehensive. Most KGs are able to provide children with opportunities for self-directed and free learning through play by strengthening the element of free exploration. Teachers generally follow the rationale of child-centredness and learning through play when drawing up teaching plans with clear goals and focuses, implementation procedures as well as assessment of effectiveness. The school management and teachers regularly review the implementation of the curriculum, take follow-up actions and make improvement as appropriate.
(c) KGs have made significant improvement in setting up an environment that is conducive to learning. In general, KGs are aware of the importance of school environment in children’s learning. By taking into account children’s interests, abilities and learning needs, teachers are able to plan and create a real-life setting and provide diversified materials for children so as to provide ample opportunity for children to undergo exploration activities and interactive games.
18 As for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 school year, as face-to-face classes were suspended at different intervals in KGs due to social event and COVID-19 epidemic, QR had to be postponed.
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(d) KGs develop students’ reading habit by enriching their book collection with diverse themes, launching parent-child reading programmes, organising interesting games, etc.
(e) KGs create a real-life language environment to facilitate NCS children’s learning through ample opportunities for them to interact with Chinese-speaking children. KGs coordinate and optimise the use of internal and external resources, or collaborate with parents and inter-disciplinary service teams to assist NCS children in learning Chinese.
(f) Most KGs are able to take care of children with diverse needs with well-defined mechanism in place for identifying and supporting children with special needs as early as possible. The school management actively arranges teachers to receive relevant training and encourages teachers to cater for learner diversity by adopting diversified strategies, such as alternative seating arrangements, strengthened peer interaction and design of multi-level games.
(g) KGs attach greater importance to the communication and connection with parents. In addition to organising various activities to foster home-school co-operation, KGs also strengthen parent education for enhancing parents’ understanding of child development and quality KG education. Most KGs maintain close contact with parents and establish multiple channels for parents to learn about their children’s performance. Moreover, they set up effective mechanisms to handle and follow up parents’
views systematically, and in tandem, enhance the transparency of school management.
Views and discussions
4.21 As reflected from the questionnaires returned by KGs upon completion of each QR, an overwhelming majority of principals and teaching staff considered QR as useful in validating SSE results, facilitating schools to formulate development goals and plans, and providing recommendations that meet the needs of their development.
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KGs also agreed that self-evaluation could facilitate school development while QR has a sustainable impact on school development.
4.22 The sector in general shared the view that the refinement of PIs was built on the basis of experience and outcomes of SSE and QR, in line with the implementation of the KG education policy and the use of Kindergarten Education Curriculum Guide (Curriculum Guide).
4.23 The interim review of the Pilot Scheme on External Observers in QR shows that stakeholders generally hold a positive view towards the pilot scheme, concurring that it helps enhance the transparency of QR.
Way forward
4.24 The EDB will continue to enhance the governance and transparency of KGs and step up the monitoring through the Quality Assurance Framework. By means of QR, focus inspection, etc., the EDB holistically examines the effectiveness of KGs’ development and offers suggestions for improvement in light of school context, so as to facilitate KGs’ continuous self-improvement and enhance the quality of KG education. In addition, the EDB will continue to promote the refined PIs to KGs and shares the observations from the QR conducted throughout the year as well as school’s good practices with KGs, with a view to facilitating KGs’ effective self-evaluation and promoting sustainable development of KGs.
4.25 Upon the completion of the Pilot Scheme on External Observers in QR, the EDB will examine its effectiveness and consider if this scheme should be regularised.
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