Calling for all working mothers

[tohkornottohk]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum but already think this is a great place. My husband and I will be moving from New York to HK in the next 2 months. We have a 21 month old daughter and I work full time. We are trying to find a daycare center in HK for our little one but have had no luck so far. Are there daycare centers in HK that operate in a similar way like the ones in the US? The ones that we talked to either have only half day schedule or a full day schedule which is not really a full day schedule like what we have in the US. I do want to continue to work in HK but am reluctant to put my baby in a nanny's hands all day immediately after we arrive.

Sorry about the long post. Hope the working mothers on this board could shed some light. Thanks!

 

[spockey]

Hi tohkornottohk!

There is hardly any daycare in Hong Kong. And if there is I think it caters for the local community with a VERY long waitlist.

What we have found is a full day nursery for 2 year olds though. It's not in Central though. My son goes to Jing Jing International Kindergarten which has a full day option. He currently attends full day nursery just once a week but will begin full day nursery Mon-Fri in the new academic year. It's run by an English lady and the student to staff ratio is 8:1. All teachers are QKTs and the nursery class is made up of at least 7 native English speakers. He has his lunch and has the option of having an arvo nap there. He has NEVER on Thursday ever wanted an arvo nap. He LOVES it and WE love it. Best decision I've ever made! It's a lot cheaper than hiring a full time qualified nanny from Oz/UK or any other English speaking country.

The only catch is that it's not in Central. It's near Lingnan University near the Gold Coast (which is a family friendly expat enclave). There is shuttle bus pick-up from the G.C. or you may be able to find a mum to carpool the kids as there are several kids attending the school. If you work in Central/TST, there are morning and evening shuttles that will take you to work and back.

The other full day nursery option (which costs an arm and a leg with lots of local kids) is Yew Chung International.

Otherwise, if you are comfortable with leaving your child with a domestic helper from the Philippines or Indonesia, you can hire one too. It costs at least $3480 plus a government levy and a food allowance.

Good Luck!

 

[tohkornottohk]

Thank you spockey!

Thanks for the reply. We had a heated discussion on the daycare issue last night and almost decided that I should just take a year off and care for our daughter. Now it looks like there is still hope out there. I will check out the 2 schools you mentioned. The idea of putting her in a nanny's hands is too scary for me now. Maybe I will change after I arrive.