The nursery race that turns parents into anxious spectators

Lynzy Valles

Nursery school interviews in Macau have quietly become a source of stress for many parents.

The nursery admission interviews commenced earlier this month and will last until March 25, causing high anxiety among parents as they wait for the list of admitted children to be announced in more than a month.

Education bureau authorities said earlier this year that parents need not worry about a shortage of places, noting that about 3,400 children are expected to enroll in early childhood education in the new academic year and that the overall supply of school places is sufficient to meet demand.

As what should be a simple first step into education has, for some families, turned into a highly competitive experience.

There are parents who are spending not only money but also significant time preparing for something that is meant to be an introduction rather than a final exam.

Prior to the scheduled interviews, some families enroll their toddlers in mock interviews or coaching tutorials, hoping to increase the child’s chances of being admitted to their top-choice school.

Others take leave from work to accompany their children to interview sessions that can feel more like examinations than a casual encounter.

Many worry that failing to secure a place in a preferred kindergarten may affect their child’s future academic path – even at such an early age as three years old!

Parents also report feeling nervous before the interviews, sometimes more anxious than their children.

Hence, the process can turn what should be a natural interaction into a performance, as children, especially toddlers who are less than three years old, may not fully understand what is expected of them.

Yet here they are, placed in unfamiliar environments and asked to respond to strangers, while parents, as spectators, feel a rush of adrenaline, nervous about how their child responds.

Every parent wants the best for their child, so the intention is understandable.

However, it seems as if nursery interviews have “commonly” required tutorials, mock sessions, and high emotional and financial investment.

Ultimately, the question is not about whether parents should prepare their children at all, but whether the current level of preparation (for some) has gone too far.

Speaking as a non-educator, isn’t early education supposed to focus on fostering confidence, curiosity, and joy in learning: not turning a child’s first step into formal schooling into a source of parental anxiety?

With that being said, I think it also goes beyond academic concern as this nursery admission race hints at a much deeper social psychology that is visible in many Asian societies, where children are sometimes viewed, even unintentionally, as extensions of parental achievement.

In some families, the pressure is not only about securing a school place but also about maintaining social standing based on whether the three-year-old child has been admitted to a “prestigious school” at such an early age.

Based on that, could children become silent participants in an unspoken competition among parents – a comparison of developmental milestones, interview performance, or perceived “preparedness” for education?

As comedian Jimmy O. Yang joked during his Chinese New Year show last month (non-verbatim): “Sometimes, Asian parents compete with each other, depending on their children’s achievements.”