Pursuing Quality in Early Childhood Education with a Government-Regulated Voucher: Views of Parents and Service Providers in Hong Kong

Autor/inn/en	Wong, Jessie Ming Sin; Rao, Nirmala
Titel	Pursuing Quality in Early Childhood Education with a Government-Regulated Voucher: Views of Parents and Service Providers in Hong Kong
Quelle	In: Journal of Education Policy, 37 (2022) 1, S.39-68 (30 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Wong, Jessie Ming Sin) ORCID (Rao, Nirmala)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0268-0939
DOI	10.1080/02680939.2020.1764628
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Preschool Education; Educational Vouchers; Government Role; Educational Quality; Educational Policy; Parent Attitudes; Private Education; School Size; Educational History; Federal Aid; Kindergarten; Teacher Attitudes; Administrator Attitudes; Principals; Preschool Teachers; Hong Kong + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Pre-school education; Vorschulerziehung; Educational voucher; Bildungsgutschein; Quality of education; Bildungsqualität; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Elternverhalten; Privatunterricht; History of education; Bildungsgeschichte; Lehrerverhalten; Principal; Schulleiter; Preschool education; Erzieher; Erzieherin; Kindergärtnerin; Vorschule; Hongkong
Abstract	This paper critically examines parents' and service providers' reception of the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme (PEVS), which was designed to enhance the quality of early childhood education in Hong Kong. The PEVS was a universal voucher policy that was designed to harness market forces and increase direct governmental control of quality in a private education market wherein pre-academic training and competition are emphasized. This paper presents the results of a survey of 413 parents and 215 service providers. Findings indicated that despite the government's efforts in promoting quality as 'child-centeredness' and the efforts of preschools in meeting the quality standards, parents remained relatively neutral about the policy's influence on preschool quality. However, all parents appreciated the financial benefits they accrued from the PEVS, and more socially-advantaged families allocated the additional disposable income on extra educational activities and programs for their children. Findings suggest the implementation of the PEVS in a fully private market might unexpectedly exacerbate inequity in educational opportunities. The enrolment size of the preschool was also found to be a determinant of respondents' views of the PEVS. We argue the government's idea of 'joyful learning' may be even harder to achieve with the current means of service governance. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01