Mainland Chinese parents concerned about kindergarten interviews held in Cantonese

Thousands of parents, mostly from the mainland, thronged outside kindergartens in the northern New Territories last week hoping to secure application forms for their children. Some parents of cross-boundary pupils, meanwhile, are practising Cantonese with their children a week before the interviews to increase their chance of admission.

Sheung Shui Wai Chou Kindergarten gave out about 1,300 application forms, but will be able to meet only 1,000 children when it holds interviews next Saturday. A group of six or seven children - each accompanied by one parent - will meet three teachers in a 10- to 20-minute interview held in Cantonese.

Shenzhen resident Deng Donghao, whose son will go to four kindergartens for interviews, said the pre-schools all conducted the interviews in Cantonese. Although his Cantonese was limited, he said he had been practising the dialect with his son, trying to get him familiar with it.

"What worries me the most is that when facing a stranger and an unfamiliar language, my son will get nervous and won't speak at all," Deng said. "Putonghua is China's national language. Why would Hong Kong only use Cantonese for interviews? It's really unfair for us."

A Ms Yu, who applied to eight kindergartens for her daughter, complained that some kindergartens only conducted interviews in Cantonese, limiting the chances for children like her daughter. "It's discrimination," she said.

The Tin Ping Estate resident said her daughter could not speak Cantonese although both parents were local. "My mother, who speaks only Putonghua, takes care of her and I have to work, so I don't have time to teach her Cantonese," she said.