Summer teaching for preschool children: Slow implementation due to regulations

(Baonghean) - Normally, in July, kindergartens have begun to reopen to welcome students for summer school. This year, up to this point in the whole province, no school has announced a schedule for children. This has caused many difficulties for parents...

At present, many schools in Vinh City have posted notices at the school gates with the content: "The school has not accepted summer classes for students because there has been no announcement from the Department of Education and Training". Upon receiving this information, the general psychology of parents is extremely worried. The eldest son of Mr. Ton Duc (Le Mao ward) is just starting kindergarten this year, the second child is only 3 years old, the school does not offer summer classes, making the couple not know how to cope, he had to ask the grandparents on both sides to each take care of their child for a week.

Many families have had to overcome difficulties by sending their children to private kindergartens or private childcare groups, although they are always worried about the safety of spontaneous childcare classes. Children around 4 or 5 years old are allowed by their parents to "run around", two or three gifted classes a session, as long as it fits the parents' work schedule so that they can conveniently pick them up at noon or in the afternoon. Ms. Le Thi Phuong, Deputy Head of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh City, said that: Before the summer break, 100% of preschools in Vinh City had written requests to teach summer classes with a total of nearly 4,000 children. However, up to this point, Vinh City has not agreed to any school because there are no instructions from the department. The Department of Education also cannot manage all the private and spontaneous childcare facilities that exist quite a lot in the blocks and hamlets...

According to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, each year preschool teachers have 2 months of summer vacation, June and July. During that time, if schools want to organize summer classes, there must be an agreement between parents and the school, and summer classes are considered extra classes, and the collection of tuition fees must be based on State regulations. In Nghe An, from 2014 onwards, the summer teaching fee at preschool level was implemented according to Decision No. 70/2009/QD.UBND of Nghe An province and based on Resolution No. 272/2009/NQ - Provincial People's Council "on the regulation of tuition fees for organized extra classes in public and semi-public schools in Nghe An province".

However, since July 2014, Resolution 272 has been abolished because Circular No. 17/2012/TT - BGDĐT has just stipulated that "the collection level must be agreed upon between the school and the parents". For this reason, up to now, although the demand of parents is very high, the Department of Education and Training has not issued a document guiding summer teaching because there is no new directive document from the province on the collection of fees and management of collection levels at kindergartens during the summer.

Mr. Luu Duc Thuyen, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training, said: We have received many requests and opinions from parents on this issue. For many years, the department has also supported summer teaching if schools develop appropriate teaching programs, teachers agree and there is a reasonable agreement between schools and parents... However, this year, the conditions are more difficult, because we are waiting for the above instructions, otherwise, summer teaching will be very chaotic and there will be inaccurate collection and expenditure, affecting the rights of children. The Department of Education and Training also directed specialized departments to urgently develop plans and ask for opinions to adjust the collection levels and forms in preschools as well as collection and management of revenue and expenditure.

Song Hoang