Shortage of public kindergartens a big concern in cities

Published: 06/07/2011 05:00

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According to a report of the education sector, Vietnam’s two biggest cities - Hanoi and HCM City - have not built any kindergartens in 15 wards and communes. The shortage of state pre-schools has led to overcrowding in private facilities.

According to a report of the education sector, Vietnam’s two biggest cities - Hanoi and HCM City - have not built any kindergartens in 15 wards and communes. The shortage of state pre-schools has led to overcrowding in private facilities.

People can count on their fingertips the number of pre-schools built for the new academic year despite education getting top priority.  According to a recent report, HCM City has 723 nursery schools, 397 public, 326 private institutes and 1,054 childcare centers.

Though more children in the three to four year age group want to come to school, compulsory education for kids only begins at the age of five. Consequently, some schools in district 1, 3 and Phu Nhuan have decided not to admit small toddlers.

District 12 in HCM City has seen a high increase in the number of toddlers seeking admission. The district built two more public and five private pre-schools but there is still a high demand by nearly 1,000 kids.

This year the district has 19,000 toddlers in the three to five year age bracket. 5,564 are in the five year age group but public institutes can only receive 5,189 kids. This has forced parents to send their children to private kindergartens or unlicensed childcare facilities.

The situation is similar in the capital city.

Most worrisome is the fact that both Hanoi and HCM City spend much on education but the overcrowding in schools has not eased over the last few years. Hence, it is easy to understand the mushrooming of private and illegal childcare centers in these districts that cater to toddlers who have no other facility to go to.

The paradox is that children in private institutes with high tuition fees come from low income families (70 percent parents of children in private centers are poor laborers). Moreover, staffs in these childcare centers are not well-trained to educate children.

Below are photos of parents who had to sit in front of the Binh Minh pre-school in Tay Ho district and Thanh Cong A pre-school in Dong Da district, Hanoi through the night to struggle for a seat for their children:

This scene has been seen at the gate of Binh Minh kindergarten in recent years.
Parents have to queue in front of the gate from the mid-night to apply for a seat
for their children. This pre-school recruits a small number of pupils while the
demand of local people is very high.


Mr. Lai Phu Le, 81, sits in front of the school’s door to apply for a seat for his grandson.


This woman said she brought about a chair to sit in front of the pre-school from 8 pm.


At the Thanh Cong A pre-school, hundreds of parents queued from 9 pm.


Many people said they even stood here from 7 pm while the school began
receiving applications from 8am of the next day.


To keep order, they took notes of the names of applicants in order of coming.


This is a temporary measure to help applicants be assured of their interest and they
could return home for sleep and come back the school in the morning of the next day.


However, many parents were afraid that this list could be changed so they still stayed there the whole night.


Some families sent 2-3 members to take turns.


This situation is reported in Hanoi in recent years on every June 30 night, the night
before pre-schools receive applications for the new school year.


SGGP/VNE

Provide by Vietnam Travel

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