Profiles of kindergartens posted online
The Education Bureau (EDB) released today (October 14) the web version of the Profile of Kindergartens and Kindergarten-cum-Child Care Centres 2024/25 School Year (www.chsc.hk/kindergarten) to provide basic information on all kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres (collectively referred to as kindergartens), enhance the transparency of schools and help parents make informed school choices for their children. Mobile applications for iOS and Android versions of the Profile are also available for download.
A spokesman for the EDB said, "The Profile covers information on about 990 kindergartens in Hong Kong, including the list of kindergartens joining the Kindergarten Education Scheme (Scheme) in the 2024/25 school year and the approved school fees of kindergartens for the 2024/25 school year. For kindergartens joining the Scheme, the Profile will show their approved school fees after the deduction of government subsidies. Parents can also refer to the Fees Certificate of respective kindergartens for details of the approved fees, including school fees and meal charges, if applicable.
"Other information in the Profile includes the number and overall professional qualifications of the principal and teaching staff, enrolment, teacher-to-pupil ratios, curriculum details, reference prices of major education items being sold, application fees and registration fees, and information on application for admission. All kindergartens joining the Scheme are required to disclose information on the proportion of major expenses in overall expenditure. The Profile also includes columns on 'Support to non-Chinese speaking students' and 'Support to students with special needs' for parents' easy reference."
The spokesman added, "All kindergartens joining the Scheme are required to undergo the Quality Review (QR) for quality assurance. For those kindergartens that have completed the QR process, information on whether they have met the prescribed standards is indicated in the Profile, and the latest QR Report can be accessed through the link provided."
The Profile is available in English to help parents of non-Chinese speaking children access information on kindergartens more easily and comprehensively.
HKEAA submits 2024 Territory-wide System Assessment Report
A spokesman for the Education Bureau (EDB) today (November 4) said that the EDB had received the 2024 Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) report submitted by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA). As compared to that of last year, the performance of the Primary Three and Secondary Three students participating in the assessment of the three major subjects of Chinese Language, English Language and Mathematics this year remains generally steady.
The spokesman said, "The EDB thanks the school sector for continuously adopting diversified teaching strategies and measures over the past year to cater for different needs of students and raising students' interests and learning abilities. The EDB will continue to work closely with all stakeholders, render full support to schools, and strengthen teachers' professional capacities and enhance learning and teaching effectiveness through organising teacher training, enriching learning and teaching resources, such as continuing to enhance the Student Assessment Repository as a one-stop platform for learning, teaching and assessment, organising diversified activities, and providing appropriate school-based support services.
"Since the enhancement measures rolled out in 2018, the TSA has been implemented according to its policy intent and position as 'a low-stake assessment with emphasis on feedback' in a satisfactory manner without increasing the burden on students. The EDB encourages schools to make good use of the information of the TSA report to analyse students' strengths and weaknesses in various learning areas, as well as to combine schools' related internal assessment results to review existing learning and teaching measures, and devise more suitable curriculum plans and teaching strategies to cater for learner diversity and raise learning and teaching effectiveness."
The HKEAA will later provide primary and secondary schools with school-level data at Primary Three (only for schools with participation of all their Primary Three students) and Secondary Three levels directly for use as feedback on learning and teaching. The EDB will not obtain reports of individual schools from the HKEAA. With regard to the 2024 TSA report, the EDB will hold thematic seminars on "Promoting Assessment for Learning" in November and December to promote and support schools and teachers in making effective use of assessment data and information to enhance learning and teaching. Teachers can enroll via the EDB training calendar.
Student performance figures of the TSA from 2004 to 2024 are shown in the Annex. Details of the TSA are available on the HKEAA website (www.bca.hkeaa.edu.hk).