• Teaching
• Research
• Knowledge Transfer
• Administrative Services

• Teaching
• Research
• Knowledge Trasnfer
• Administrative Services

Individual Award

Dr Gail YUEN Wai-kwan
袁慧筠博士
Assistant Professor, Department of Education Policy and Leadership

Dr Yuen Wai Kwan’s research interests focus on Early Childhood Education (ECE) policy, teacher development, and advocacy for young children.

Dr. Yuen won the Knowledge Transfer and Research Impact Award conferred by the Faculty of Education and Human Development (FEHD) of the University in 2016/17.

Dr. Yuen was granted internal and external funding to conduct research on the Pre-Primary Education Voucher Scheme, in which she uncovered several problematic concerns revealed in international research and local data. Her research was published in 12 scholarly publications, received extensive media exposure, and led to a framework for the advocacy of 15-year free education extending to Early Childhood Education (ECE), which was ultimately taken up by the ECE sector and shaped the policy process of the Government of the Hong Kong SAR.

The replacement of Hong Kong’s 10-year-old Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme with free quality kindergarten education in 2017 followed a ten-year programme of research, knowledge transfer and engagement. The programme comprised four sequential research projects (funded by an Internal Research Grant; the Department of Education Policy and Leadership (EPL); the Strategic Planning Office of the University; and the Government’s Public Policy Research (PPR) Funding Scheme, for a total amount of HK$496,570) and four knowledge-transfer projects (funded by the EPL and FEHD for a total amount of HK$177,248), all in her capacity as Principal Investigator.

The sustained effort resulted in the removal of the out-of-date voucher scheme and ensured a policy change that recognised the economic and social potential of the ECE sector to benefit society. The new free quality kindergarten education policy has directly benefited an estimated 150,000 children aged 3 to 6 annually and 748 non-profit-making kindergartens (about 97% of the total) in Hong Kong. The new policy framework, broadened by the sustained effort, extended the area of concern beyond resource calculations to address different aspects of ECE development, including career pathways, learning environment, provision of places, staffing and diverse learning needs.

Dr. Yuen made a significant contribution to bringing together kindergartens, parents, scholars and policy makers to facilitate a social paradigm shift in ECE by reshaping public discourse on kindergarten education policy. She demonstrated the impact of the development of a new policy and the reconceptualization of teaching professionalism.