To provide earlier support for children with special needs, the Social Welfare Department is piloting the School-based Model of Pre-school Rehabilitation Services, bringing together the Integrated Programme (IP) and On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services (OPRS). The first phase began in 12 kindergartens in April and will expand to 112 in September. Over the past decade, government-subsidised service places have also risen from 6,626 to 19,291 as at end-March 2025.
Against this backdrop, the Department of Early Childhood Education and the Council of Non-profit Making Organisations for Pre-primary Education (CNOPE) conducted a survey in March, receiving 459 valid responses. The team also interviewed 27 staff from nine of the 12 first-phase kindergartens, to gain a closer understanding of frontline experience and support needs in teaching, school management and interdisciplinary collaboration.
The findings point to classroom capacity as one of the most immediate pressures. Only 16.5% of class teachers felt that current teacher-to-pupil ratios were sufficient for effective inclusive education, while 88.4% cited a lack of resources or special child care workers as a source of pressure. Fewer than half of staff were satisfied with the current hours and frequency of services.
Interviews also showed that case follow-up, resource coordination and communication with professional teams are often added to the existing duties of principals and teachers. The research team therefore recommends a permanent Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) role in kindergartens to strengthen coordination, oversee follow-up, and ensure that professional knowledge and experience are shared across the teaching team rather than resting with individual staff members.
In the longer term, both coordination and professional development require stronger system-level support. Staffing and resource benchmarks, the scope and limits of services, and the respective responsibilities of schools and professional teams all need to be more clearly defined.
For more details, please refer to the full press release: https://www.eduhk.hk/en/press-releases/eduhk-and-cnope-announce-survey-findings-on-school-based-support-for-pre-primary-special-education
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