Choosing a Kindergarten

Pre-primary education can enhance your children’s physical, intellectual and social development at an early stage. Here you can learn about how to choose a quality kindergarten for your children and other pre-primary alternatives.

What are the benefits of pre-primary education?

 Pre-primary education lays an important foundation for life-long learning and whole personal development. By attending a kindergarten, children can:

engage in physical activities and cultivate a healthy lifestyle; develop basic language skills and logical thinking; build up communication skills; and explore their own creativity.

What should you look for in a kindergarten?

A quality kindergarten should:

operate in a safe and hygienic premise; offer a stimulating learning environment; employ professionally trained teachers; adopt an all-round curriculum with inspiring activities; and focus on holistic development of children, including positive learning attitudes, good character and healthy living habits.

For comparison, you can check out the profiles and official quality reports of kindergartens on the following links.

Who may attend child care centres?

Children under 3 may also attend a standalone child care centre, or a child care centre in a kindergarten-cum-child care centre which caters for young children up to the age of 6.  Some child care centres provide full-day services for needy children and families, and some cater for children and families with special needs.

How can I get financial assistance for pre-primary students?

Needy families may apply for the financial assistance schemes for pre-primary students administered by the Student Finance Office (SFO) of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency (WFSFAA).  The student-applicants must be Hong Kong residents, with right of abode, right to land or valid permission to remain without any condition of stay (other than the limit of stay).  Students holding visitor visas, two-way exit permits, student visas only or who are dependents of student-visa or visitor-visa holders are not eligible to apply for student financial assistance.  In addition, the student-applicants must (i) be at least 2 years and 8 months or above as at 31 August of the year of admission attending kindergartens under the kindergarten education scheme of the Education Bureau offering local curriculum; or (ii) receive whole-day care services in registered child care centres.  All applications are subject to means test.  For children receiving whole-day child care services (i.e. groups aged 0-2 and 2-3), the applicant must also pass the “social needs” test during the same assessment period.