Deputies of the National Assembly (NA) opposed a government proposal to collect tuition fees at public kindergartens, saying the fees could prevent poor children from attending.

Delegate Hoang Van Toan said while pre-schooling is very important for children aged under six, there is only about a 50 percent attendance rate.

He said free kindergartens would encourage more children to go, as it did in the northern province of Vinh Phuc, which has offered free pre-schooling to children from poor areas.

He said having their kids in kindergarten also helps parents concentrate at work.

Deputy Phan Thi My Binh said many families in remote areas of Tuyen Quang Province often contributed cooking to kindergartens, and cooked for the children, so their kids could go to classes without tuition fees. He said exempting the fees were needed to encourage the six million kindergarten-age children to attend.

Deputy Pham Thi Hai said charging fees was counterproductive to the target of at least 95 percent of five-year-old children going to kindergarten.

Delegates also said a proposed tuition-fee increase at vocational schools of VND120,000 (US$6.70) to VND170,000 ($9.40) was too high and could deter students from going.

Delegate Binh said the number of laborers undergoing vocational training was too low compared with numbers graduating from universities and colleges.

Reported by Bao Van