In Hong Kong, schooling and instruction start when children are still relatively young. Although it is not uncommon to hear of complaints regarding workload, competition, and other stressors attributed to the education system, the system also has a lot to be proud of. In international comparative studies of academic skills, children in the territory have consistently been ranked amongst those at the top. Perhaps even more remarkable is that despite a high GINI coefficient, the achievement gap associated with socio-economic status is relatively small.
Although education has always been deemed important, with a greying population and a low birth rate, it is more important now than ever to ensure that our children are given the best early start in life. The responsibility of training and nurturing our students into professionals who teach and care for some of the youngest members of our society is something that drives every member of our department. Our department trains the bulk of teachers who serve in the early education system in Hong Kong. Being one of the largest departments of early education in the region, our academic staff have expertise in pedagogy, self-regulation, family processes, and other areas that are critical to children’s early development.
I invite you to browse through our webpages and learn more about our academic programmes and research expertise. Please get in touch if you need further information or have suggestions on how we can do even better; we would love to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Dr. LAU Yi Hung, Eva
Acting Head and Associate Professor
Department of Early Childhood Education