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While the Mid-Autumn Festival traditionally marks joyful family reunions, many preschool educators in Hong Kong find themselves spending holiday evenings at work rather than at home.
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Recent online disclosures revealed that teachers frequently work late into the night hosting festive galas for students and families.
Frontline educators noted that such unpaid overtime has become an industry norm as preschools increasingly organize promotional events to attract prospective parents amid a severe local birth rate decline, leaving staff physically and emotionally exhausted.
The shrinking child population has plunged the early childhood education sector into an acute recruitment crisis. To secure enrollment quotas, kindergartens stage festive open days and carnivals, with the heavy logistical burden falling almost entirely on teachers.
Staff members often single-handedly construct elaborate decorations and move heavy furniture with minimal janitorial support. To accommodate working parents, these events typically take place in the evening, keeping teachers past nine or ten at night without overtime pay or compensatory leave.
Constant operational pressures and public reprimands from supervisors in front of pupils have prompted widespread anxiety, particularly among junior staff.
Intensified parental demands and stagnant remuneration deepen career fatigue
Beyond long hours, educators report intense psychological pressure from parental expectations. Because preschools lack a standardized primary school admission ranking system, schools go to great lengths to appease families, often instructing teachers to apologize even when responding to groundless complaints.
Teachers must also field parental messages throughout short lunch breaks. Remuneration disparities compound the frustration, with starting salaries of around HK$25,060 lagging behind primary and secondary school counterparts.
Furthermore, some operators link pay raises to student intake quotas, freezing increments when targets fall short, while non-transferable seniority deters experienced teachers from moving schools, driving many to leave the field.
Union calls for regulatory clarity and institutional support
Addressing these structural challenges, Lam Chui-ling, vice chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers and a kindergarten principal, expressed sympathy for frontline educators.
While noting that educational duties cannot be evaluated solely through standard statutory hours, she urged the Education Bureau and the Labour Department to establish clearer guidelines balancing operational flexibility with labor protection.
Lam also encouraged schools to offer compensatory leave and moderate promotional activities to protect educational values.
Calling for sustainable career progression pathways and flexible scheduling, she emphasized the need for greater public support and resources to assist preschool educators in managing children with special educational needs.
