The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd)’s Centre for Childhood Research and Innovation conducted a survey in January 2012, and interviewed 1260 individuals who are parents from 20 kindergartens in Hong Kong, regarding their children’s participation in extra-curricular interest classes. The detailed result from this survey is listed below:

Discrepancy between parents’ belief and action in early childhood education

         Although over 61% of the parents interviewed expressed that “interest of the children” is the reason for enrolling in extra-curricular classes, while 54.9% believed in an emphasis on “physical fitness and health development of the children”, in reality, however, majority of of the parents would choose a class in languages (English class: 49%; Putonghua class: 14%; other languages: 2%); followed by drawing (39%), dance and music (24% in each group). In contrast, only 15% of the parents would enrol their children into activities related to physical fitness development.

         Dr. Eva Lau Yi-hung, Lecturer of the HKIEd’s Department of Early Childhood Education, is a member of this survey study. She believes that this phenomenon is particularly unhealthy. “Early childhood is the first stage of learning for a child, parents should provide a variety of opportunities for their children to learn through play, for nurturing their comprehensive development,” she said.

 Parents’ tend to reliance on education centres in the market

         Parents interviewed in the survey believe that their main source of pressure comes from “future development of the children” (48.7%), while a quarter of them are concerned about “the children’s primary school enrolment” (24.8%). Only 4% of the respondents believe that children do not need to enrol in extra-curricular interest classes, and more than half of them enrol their children into at least one (25%) or two (24%) interest classes. Sixty-six per cent of the parents spend less than $1,000 each month on these classes, while only three percent spend more than HK$5,000 on their children’s extra-curricular activities.

         Moreover, the survey also revealed that the number of interest classes enrolled increases with the students’ grade level.

         Dr. Doris Cheng Pui-wah, Director of the Centre for Childhood Research and Innovation said, “The result reflects the immense pressure parents faced in raising their children. The survey also reveals that the higher the parents’ household income and education level, the more likely they are to arrange for more interest classes for their young children. This shows that parents are overly reliant on education centres in the market to provide learning opportunities for young children.”

Recommendation: enhancing education for parents

          In addition, 66% of the respondents said they would opt for a full-time school for their young children, if the government provides free early childhood education. Their reasons include allowing their children “to adapt to the full-time format of primary schools” (60.2%), “to have more time learning in their kindergartens” (55.1%) and that “it suits the parents’ work schedule” (47.4%).

          Dr Cheng said, “Family is the home base of a child’s development. The society needs to conduct in-depth studies on the effect of child development of extra-curricular interest classes, as well as their impact on early childhood development. Meanwhile, the government should provide more support to local families, such as assisting parents in choosing appropriate activities for their children. The government should optimise its current policies, engage in comprehensive parents’ education and utilise the education resources provided by the government more effectively.”