Situation vacant: Student. Hours: 8am to 6pm. Conditions: willing to work for two institutions in one day. Pay: none. Extra duties: homework. Age: three to six.
That's right, three to six. Children at the dawn of their education are being introduced early to the Hong Kong work ethic by parents enrolling them in two kindergartens at once.
The children attend not just morning and afternoon classes but also local and international kindergartens, requiring them to cope in a day of 10 hours or more not just with two different schools, uniforms and sets of classmates and regulations, but also two languages.
The trend, which childhood experts say puts undue pressure on children - but which at least one father says is better than wasting time watching television or playing computer games - is being encouraged by the government subsidy for early education.
Launched in 2007, the pre-primary education voucher scheme subsidises non-profit schools that offer a local curriculum and charge less than HK$24,000 per pupil per year for a half-day place and HK$48,000 for a whole-day place. In the 2009-10 academic year, each child going to such a kindergarten is entitled to a voucher worth HK$12,000. Some parents use the government vouchers to pay for a local half-day school, where their children study in Cantonese or Putonghua, and their own money for international classes offered by private kindergartens.
Aware of the practice, some schools have already changed their schedules to accommodate the children who have become known as the 'dual-kinder kids'. The Education Bureau says it is undesirable but there is no rule against it at present.
With morning classes starting as early as 8am and afternoon classes ending as late as 6pm, and taking travelling into account, children as young as three could be spending 12 hours or more going to and from school, then tackling homework.
