Although the language needs of ethnic minorities in the Hong Kong primary and
secondary education sectors have been addressed, the needs of language diverse preprimary
students have not. Nine parents of South Asian ethnicity were interviewed regarding
their experience of pre-primary education in Hong Kong. Sixteen Hong Kong
education documents were examined using a simple analysis technique of counting
the number of times a word or phrase related to early childhood education or ethnic
minorities appeared. Interview results indicated that families from ethnic minority
backgrounds face significant challenges because of language. Few documents regarding
the provision of pre-primary education to ethnic minority children and no policies
to support Chinese language acquisition exist. To keep up with international developments
in early childhood education and facilitate integration and/or inclusion of ethnic
minorities into society, the Hong Kong education system should review its policies
and provide support for language diverse children from the earliest years.