O.1 Gradually Upskilling the Workforce: The Case of Hong Kong SAR, China

12 | Quality Early Learning

sufficient private provision of quality ECE for families that can afford it, governments can focus limited public resources on families most in need. Governments could also offer incentives for the nonstate sector to provide quality ECE to vulnerable populations, including learners with disabilities, girls, ethnic and racial minorities, and refugees or displaced persons, among others. Regardless of the specific strategy, ensuring consistently sufficient quality across service providers is essential, and two-tier quality systems that undermine vulnerable children’s opportunities should be avoided.

Leveraging the nonstate sector to expand access to quality ECE involves governments engaging with local providers, setting realistic standards that

BOX O.1

Gradually Upskilling the Workforce: The Case of Hong Kong SAR, China

The development of the regulated early childhood education (ECE) sector in Hong Kong SAR, China, was a response to the challenges that proliferated during the massive expansion of private ECE access. Enrollment in private unregulated ECE services grew twelvefold between 1951 and 1979, and this explosion of ECE demand resulted in a private ECE sector increasingly defined by poor service delivery, an untrained workforce, and high child-to-adult ratios.

In response to growing public pressures to offer more (and better) ECE, the government released an official policy on preprimary services in 1981, setting stringent targets for the upgrading of ECE quality in decades to come. This policy targeted ECE teacher training in particular and articulated the goal of certifying 45 percent of teachers and 100 percent of principals in five years and reaching 90 percent of teachers by 1992. This same document also made recommendations for minimum standards related to space, materials, equipment, and child-to-adult ratios in kindergarten classrooms.

One of the biggest investments in the ECE sector came through policies and financing focused on teacher professional development. Beginning in the mid-1990s, the government allocated 163 million Hong Kong dollars (HK$) over four years to provide professional training to kindergarten teachers, created certificates of ECE for in-service teachers, and implemented a government-subsidy scheme that allowed kindergartens to increase pay for trained teachers without needing to substantially increase parental fees. These measures to enact defined standards for classroom quality required an eightfold increase in government expenditure for kindergarten

Overview | 13

Box O.1 (continued)

education in 10 years, from HK$81.5 million in 1990/91 to HK$608 million in 1999/2000.

The entire education system underwent another full-scale reform in 2000, which again raised the workforce requirements for ECE teachers, introduced performance indicators that set standards for the ECE sector, and put in place a trial quality assurance mechanism. It also advanced a systems-thinking approach, reorganizing childcare centers for children three years and younger under the remit of the social welfare department, and putting kindergartens under the jurisdiction of the education department. The program also extended hours in 2015 in response to working families’ needs.

Source: Wong and Rao 2015.

encourage registration, and safeguarding quality assurance (see, for example, box O.1 on Hong Kong SAR, China). Governments should map out local providers and design strategies that make the most of different providers’ profiles. A critical issue facing governments is how to encourage nonstate ECE centers’ registration. Often, quality standards—for example, physical space per child or playground requirements in urban areas— discourage or preclude providers from registering. To increase registration rates, which is critical to ensuring governments can fulfill their quality assurance role, quality standards should be feasible while still ensuring children’s safety. The Jamaica Early Childhood Commission offers a practical approach, whereby centers must meet three basic requirements to register and are then given guidance and support to improve over time to achieve higher levels of quality. It is critical that the state maintains responsibility for quality assurance and has systems in place to ensure quality across nonstate and public sector provision.

Prioritizing Investments to Boost Child Learning while Building Quality ECE at Scale

Quality ECE is built progressively, requiring simultaneous investments across the range of ECE elements over time. Although evidence from systemwide interventions on programs’ cost-effectiveness is still limited, a growing body of studies points to some key investments to improve children’s learning outcomes. Such interventions include improving ECE educators’ capacity, as well as age-appropriate pedagogical approaches to support learning and promote nurturing, responsive, and stimulating