Kindergartens in Hong Kong ‘facing staff shortages’ as teachers working up to 70-hour weeks threaten to quit their jobs over excessive demands of government scheme
- Four in 10 say they are thinking about leaving the profession because of the administrative burden imposed by Free Quality Kindergarten Education Scheme
- More than 90 per cent report sleeping problems and stress issues in the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers poll
Kindergarten teachers have to work up to 70 hours a week following the introduction of a free education scheme two years ago that risks triggering an exodus of staff, a survey has found.
More than 90 per cent of the 1,255 kindergarten teachers and principals polled also said they were stressed and not getting enough sleep because of the extra administrative burden of the system.
The findings were revealed on Tuesday in a survey conducted in May by the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, which is warning of staff shortages as the strain on teachers becomes too much to bear.
The poll found 42 per cent of respondents were considering quitting due to the demands of the job, with more than half of them reporting at least one to three of their colleagues had already left this year.
Nearly half of the respondents worked between 60 to 70 hours a week, up from 40 to 50 hours in the past, the survey also revealed.
Introduced in 2017-18, the free school scheme was designed to largely replace the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme.
