A
workforce of highly qualified and committed teachers was indispensable for
building quality kindergartens in HCM City, speakers said at a workshop held
here on Wednesday.

Teachers at Kindergarten 4 in HCM City’s District 3 play with pupils. Kindergarten teachers need to be of the highest calibre if schoolchildren are to fully benefit from preschooling, speakers at an education workshop heard. (Photo: VNS)

Quach
Thi Thuy Quynh, principal of the City Kindergarten in District 3, said qualified
teaching staff would greatly benefit the children.

Preschool and kindergarten teachers played a vital role in the development of
children. What they learn and experience during their early years will shape
their views of themselves and the world and affect their later success or
failure in schools, she explained.

It is
necessary, therefore, for kindergarten teachers to have high professional
knowledge and to love their job, Quynh said.

Other
qualities that kindergarten teachers should have were enthusiasm, love for the
children, creativity, and the willingness and ability to use knowledge sourced
through the Internet to develop their professional knowledge as well as skills,
she said.

A
pre-school education expert said that the current teaching staff at
kindergartens in Viet Nam were yet to develop the capacity to update their
skills and engage in self-development.

Nguyen
Thi Kim Dung, principal of the May 19 Kindergarten in District 1, suggested that
more short-time training courses are provided for kindergarten teachers so that
they improve their skills and knowledge on a regular basis.

Quynh
said teachers at Vietnamese kindergartens lacked creative capacity because they
were overburdened by work at most kindergartens.

Many
stay at the kindergartens for ten hours per day, she said.

Speakers
at the meeting also suggested that the working hours for teachers at
kindergartens be reduced by half. And, to attract highly qualified teachers to
kindergartens, it is very important to increase their remuneration, they said.

Vu Thi
Xuan Lien, principal of the Vang Anh Kindergarten in District 5, said that the
Department of Education and Training should allow kindergarten heads the
autonomy to increase teachers’ salaries.

Others
spoke of the need to reduce classroom strength and to invest in better
facilities for kindergartens.

However,
Vu Thi Lien Hoan, said it was not necessary for high quality kindergartens to
have many modern facilities.

“A
kindergarten with enough teaching aids in classrooms and a friendly learning
environment is very important,” she said.

She also
stressed the importance of ensuring that children from low-income families are
able to attend high-quality kindergartens, and for both public and private
sector to be involved in setting up these institutions.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News