S’porean Mum Shocked Her Baby Needed To Pass Interview To Enter HK Nursery

Think Singapore kids have it tough? Imagine needing to be interviewed for a spot in a nursery if you live in Hong Kong?

Yes, even before some kids turn two, they have already endured their first interview.

Say, what?

Instagram user @unaestheticmom42 posted a video revealing that babies as young as 14 months must pass interviews to secure a nursery spot.

“At 14 months, your kid just learnt to walk and barely talks and probably cries at strangers,” she said.

When @unaestheticmom42’s kid got her first interview (at 18 months), she was also shocked to find out that tuition centres exist to train the babies for these interviews.

Nothing like trying to set your toddler up for success with tuition, right?

According to her, normal toddler behaviour like crying when mum leaves, putting toys in their mouth, or not sitting still for story time, could mean failure.

“All this totally normal stuff can be the reason your baby doesn’t get a place in the nursery,” she said.

@unaestheticmom42 also describes the process as stressful for both parents and kids, recounting how her child was tested on puzzles, colours, and even pointing out her parents facial features.

In another video posted on Monday (Sep 8), @unaestheticmom42 detailed her experience while bringing her kid for an interview at a nursery, saying she was allowed to stay throughout.

“When we got to school, we were low-key frantically trying to get our kid to wave hello to everybody she met. Unfortunately, she was having none of it,” she said.

“And to be honest, it felt like we were also being assessed,” she added, also saying that she and her husband needed to fill out forms stating their jobs and where they worked.

Apparently, the interviews have children developing stress behaviours. According to @unaestheticmom42, one of her friend’s toddlers was said to be pulling at her own hair by the third interview.

And what if a kid fails the interview? @unaestheticmom42 says there is a formal appeals process.

“By the end, we were honestly sure if she got in,” said @unaestheticmom42 after going through the interview with her toddler.

At press time, it is unclear if her kid managed to get spot in the nursery where she interviewed at, though @unaestheticmom42 promised a future video to reveal it.

She also described the experience as extremely stressful and said, “Like, what’s even the point of these interviews? Is it just a giant scam to make money off application fees? Schools trying to pick the easiest to manage? Kids from rich families? Are we just feeding a giant education complex,” she ranted.

A quick check online showed that some renowned toddler schools can receive more than 1,000 applications for a few dozen places.

According to South China Morning Post article last year, Hong Kong parents welcome such interviews despite education authorities saying it should be scrapped as they put undue pressure on children.

Photos: unaestheticmom42/IG, SCMP