Non-public education in Nghe An: Facilities are struggling, teachers live on 'side jobs'

Teacher living on the side

For nearly half a year now, teacher Ngo Thi Sao - a teacher at a non-public kindergarten in Hung Phuc ward (Vinh city) has been making a living with a small stall at the beginning of Hermann Gmeiner street. It is called a stall but in fact it is just a few trays, on which are displayed some local products sent down by her mother every day.

The prolonged school break has caused many non-public schools to fall into difficulties. Photo: MH

Trading is only done for a few hours in the morning, because those who do not have a fixed shop will be dealt with if they encounter the Urban Order Team. In addition to selling goods, teacher Sao also cooks tofu pudding and sweet soup every day to earn extra income. Although the income is not much, thanks to this stall, the family has extra income to cover daily expenses. Meanwhile, it is not known when her main job will be able to continue.

Previously, Ms. Sao was a music teacher and had taught on contract for 3 years at a primary school in Quy Chau district. For a while, due to lack of staffing quotas, she studied preschool education and then applied to transfer to a public preschool in the city. After 2 years of waiting, with no official recruitment opportunity, she applied to transfer to a non-public school to work.

Non-public preschools in Quynh Luu district are not recruiting enough students because many parents are still worried about their children going to school during the epidemic season. Photo: MH

Although she lives in Nam Dan district, several times a week, teacher Tran Thi Minh - a teacher at ACB Kindergarten - goes to the school to help other teachers maintain the porridge stall for children in front of the school gate. She also visits some key facilities to get goods to sell online. This is also a common job for many kindergarten teachers, especially non-public teachers, because since mid-May, kindergartens have been almost closed due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

The unique feature of non-public schools is that they depend ontuitionof students, so when students are absent from school, the school has no source of income to pay teachers' salaries. Difficulties also fall on school owners because maintaining a school without income is extremely difficult, when they still have to pay many expenses such as electricity, water, labor, security and support part of the insurance premium for teachers. Right at ACB Kindergarten, to have about 20 million VND/month to pay for these expenses, the school is forced to open a porridge shop to generate income.

Since the beginning of the school year, more than 3,600 teachers, staff, and workers at non-public preschools have become unemployed because schools have not reopened due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Vinh city is the most affected locality, with 39 kindergartens and 121 non-public kindergartens having been closed for nearly 7 months. In some other localities, although the epidemic was controlled at times, learning is still erratic and not maintained regularly.

Ly Tu Trong Kindergarten in Cau Giat town has just been built and put into operation for more than a year, but has been closed for nearly half of the time. At this time, although the school has reopened, the number of students attending school is only about 2/3 of the school's size. For that reason, teachers also have to work in shifts and their income has been reduced by half.

Previously, like many other localities, kindergartens in Quynh Luu district did not organize classes because the Covid-19 epidemic continuously appeared new cases in many communes of the district. However, facing the difficult situation of non-public schools, the district Department of Education and Training sent a document to the district People's Committee asking for permission for these units to open to welcome children on the condition that they commit to ensuring disease prevention and control work.

“Our district has 2 private kindergartens and 29 independent childcare facilities. Currently, although most of the facilities have reopened, operations are still very difficult because the number of children attending school is low, tuition fees are low and not enough to pay teachers' salaries. In addition, there are some units that, although they have completed the application for support, have not yet received subsidies for teachers affected by the epidemic.”

Ms. Ho Thi Quyen - Deputy Head of Education and Training Department of Quynh Luu district

Bankruptcy due to pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic that has lasted throughout 2021 has affected all aspects of economic and social life. Particularly for the education sector, due to the impact of the pandemic, many localities have not been able to welcome students back to school since the end of May. The pandemic has also had a special impact on the non-public education system, especially non-public kindergartens or English, IT, and Life Skills centers.

Students studying at English Centers. Photo: PV

At Newstar English Center, if previously the center had 5 facilities with more than 3,000 students studying regularly, now the number of students studying has decreased by 50%.

To maintain this number, the center had to switch from direct to online teaching, reducing the number of classes from 15 students to 7-8 students. While the number of students decreased, the tuition revenue also decreased, but the unit was not allowed to reduce the rent, still had to pay salaries to the team of about 50 permanent teachers, making the center's operations difficult, and the teachers' lives were also greatly affected.

At Happy School English Center (Nghi Loc District), although the 5K regulations are strictly followed, up to now, the number of students coming to study at the center is very limited. Mr. Nguyen Huy Hai - Director of the center also said: In fact, the center's revenue comes from students. However, in recent months, due to the large decrease in the number of students registering, we have had to use our own money to pay teachers' salaries.

Foreign language class at Happy School English Center. Photo: PV

Due to conditionspandemicThe situation is still complicated and it is not known when the units will resume operations, so recently there have been a number of private kindergartens or educational institutionsnon-publichave quietly closed. As for English centers, according to statistics from the Department of Education and Training, at least nearly 20 centers have filed for bankruptcy or stopped operating because they do not have enough money to cover expenses. If this situation continues, the centers will also have to face teachers quitting their jobs and have difficulty recruiting teachers if they reopen, especially foreign teachers.

LRegarding the operation of non-public educational institutions, in addition to support for workers affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, the Government has recently requested the Ministry of Education and Training to preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to develop a support plan for non-public preschool and primary school teachers.

The support plan is expected to be built on the spirit of prioritizing education but must ensure balance and harmony with other disadvantaged groups; encourage workers to participate in social insurance. If this plan is approved soon, it will help units have more resources to overcome difficulties and gradually stabilize to overcome the pandemic.