Table 4. A brief review of early childhood education development in Hong Kong (2000s).

2000s

Educational Reform

(1) Performance Indicators — provided a standard for assessing early childhood education in Hong Kong and published Guide to Pre-primary Curriculum (2006).

(2) Service Quality Standards (SQSs) was introduced by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) in 1999 to specify the criteria or assessment indicators on policies, procedures, mechanisms and plans…etc. External assessment was conducted through document review, interview with staff, service users and observation (SWD, 2001; ED & SWD, 2002).

(3) Quality Assurance mechanism — external evaluation by EDB QA inspectors and internal self-evaluation.

(4) ED mandated compulsory professional training to upgrade qualifications:

  • All new EC teachers must complete a 1-year Pre-service QKT/CCW course by 2003,

  • All EC teachers must be fully trained with QKT/CCW by 2004,

  • All EC principals must complete CE by 2005.

(5) Harmonization (2005) of SWD & ED

  The interdepartmental working group closely examined the harmonization of kindergartens and childcare centers.

(6) Voucher Scheme (2007) required:

  • All new principals to have a B.Ed. degree in 2009,

  • All serving KG teachers should have completed CE by 2012,

  • All serving KG principals must complete the principalship certificate course by 2012 and are highly recommended to complete B.Ed. by 2012 (not mandatory).