Discovering impact on early childhood education under the market-driven Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme

Hong Kong Government implemented the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme (PEVS) in 2007 to enhance the quality and affordability of early childhood education (ECE). Previous studies on the PEVS focused on assessing the scheme in general or highlighting its overall benefits, rather than investigating its impact on specific stakeholder groups like parents and kindergartens.

To address the research gap, Dr Jessie Wong, Assistant Professor in the School of Education and Languages at Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU), conducted a research project to examine the views of parents and ECE service providers on the PEVS, and the effects of this market-based scheme on local ECE.

The research team collected data from 413 parents and 215 principals and teachers from local kindergartens. Their findings indicate that a majority of parents agreed that the PEVS eased their financial burden and increased their choices of school, yet the research team also pointed out that parents may use the financial support from the scheme to provide extra-curricular classes for their children which may eventually overload the children instead of enhancing the quality of their education. On the other hand, the principals and teachers tended to agree that the PEVS enhanced school accountability and their professional development, and they would like to receive more support to relieve their workload and stress due to the quality assessment under the scheme.

ECE is the foundation for children's future development. The PEVS demonstrates the Government's effort to utilise the market force to provide a better learning experience for the next generation. Nevertheless, the research findings reveal that the market force does not necessarily lead to the enhancement of the quality of education as the Government expected. Dr Wong's study suggests the need for the Government to rethink whether the marketisation of ECE is a suitable way to continue, as well as considering the sociocultural context in Hong Kong and understand better the needs and expectations of parents and kindergartens, so as to implement appropriate measures to optimise and reform ECE comprehensively.

These research findings were published in the Journal of Education Policy with the paper title 'Pursuing quality in early childhood education with a government-regulated voucher: Views of parents and service providers in Hong Kong.' As a recognition of Dr Wong's research achievements, this publication was awarded the Gold Prize of the Outstanding Research Publication Award 2022 by HKMU.