Universal preschool education for 5-year-old children: Difficult to reach the finish line

(Baonghean) - Implementing Project 239 of the Ministry of Education and Training on universalizing preschool education (PCGDMN) for 5-year-old children, Nghe An built a provincial project to register to complete PCGDMN for 5-year-old children by 2014. However, due to difficulties in facilities, teaching staff... the goal is difficult to achieve.

We visited the small class in Hamlet 12, Quynh Trang Commune, Hoang Mai Town, the house of Mr. Bui Duc Nho and Ms. Dong Thi Chung, which had just been built, had not been plastered, had not yet installed window frames, and the items were still unfinished. However, because the children in the hamlet did not have a room to study, the family of 4 living in the next room gave up their house for the preschool children to study in October 2013.

The living room area of ​​nearly 30 square meters is used as a daily classroom for 30 children, while the inner room of nearly 20 square meters is used for 18 children in the 3-year-old class. Many times, the couple intended to complete the house but had to stop because if they built, the children would not have a place to study, so they could not bear it. Teacher Dau Thi Hau - Vice Principal of Quynh Trang Kindergarten shared: "The area is large, so Quynh Trang Kindergarten is divided into 4 separate locations, the central school has only 6 classrooms, and the separate locations all borrow houses or cultural houses for the children to study. The school is still short of 13 classrooms. The project to build the headquarters of Quynh Trang Kindergarten has been approved by the Provincial People's Committee, the commune has completed the site clearance work but so far there is no source of capital to continue construction."

Recess time of children at Quynh Trang Kindergarten (Hoang Mai Town).

The situation of Quynh Vinh Commune Kindergarten is not much better. The impressive image that caught our eyes was the school's nameplate: "Quynh Vinh Kindergarten - Dai Vinh Cooperative". Leading us, Mr. Nguyen Viet Lap - Head of the Department of Education and Training, Hoang Mai Town said: Due to the lack of conditions to build a headquarters, for years now, children have been studying in the same working house of the cooperative which has deteriorated, while the separate study points are in the village cultural house and the church of Yen Hoa parish. The physical facilities are not guaranteed, so there are very few toys and utensils for children, and the chairs for 5-year-old children do not meet regulations. Mr. Lap added: "Hoang Mai has 12 kindergartens, of which only 5 communes have achieved the National Primary Education for 5-year-olds. The biggest difficulty now is the funding issue for investment in facilities and the issue of teacher arrangement".

In recent years, with the attention of the Party and the State, Nghe An preschool education has been consolidated and developed. In particular, the implementation of Project 239 of the Ministry of Education and Training on preschool education for 5-year-old children has made an important contribution, creating a new look for this level of education. Immediately after implementing the project, Nghe An has had many measures and initiatives, including determination and successful conversion of all semi-public preschools in the 2 mountainous regions to public schools, including 37 schools, converting 296 semi-public preschools to public schools, with partial autonomy in operating costs, converting 16 key public preschools and 20 other semi-public preschools with conditions into public preschools implementing high-quality programs with partial autonomy in operating costs.

At the same time, 5,068 contract teachers were recruited into the payroll. This is a very meaningful job, thanks to which teachers' lives have been significantly improved so that they have the conditions to dedicate themselves, be more dedicated and love their jobs. In addition, the province has issued many priority policies such as: Implementing support policies for children from poor households, households under the policy of studying at school according to regulations, organizing boarding for children at school, helping children study 2 sessions/day according to the new preschool education program and improving the quality of education and care... The whole province has 518 schools implementing the new preschool program. The rate of child mobilization is high compared to the national average, of which 5-year-old kindergarten reaches 99.8%. Not only that, the awareness of parents and the community has many positive changes, the socialization work has initially achieved results. The State budget for preschool education is regularly allocated annually. In the past 3 years, the whole province has allocated 110 billion VND to eliminate 156 temporary classrooms. Five new preschools with 107 classrooms have been built, with a budget of nearly 67 billion VND.

Currently, the entire preschool education sector has 8,695 teachers, of which 3,188 teachers/1,836 classes are for 5-year-old classes, a ratio of 1.7 teachers/class (the regulation is 2 teachers/class). The entire education level is still short of 2,502 teachers, of which 133 teachers are short of 5-year-old classes, concentrated in the districts of Tuong Duong, Quy Chau, Que Phong, Ky Son. To implement the universalization project, many localities have added teachers for 5-year-old classes, leading to a shortage of teachers for 4-year-old and 3-year-old classes. Not only remote districts but also central areas with favorable conditions such as Nghi Loc and Vinh City also lack preschool teachers. In addition to the concern about the lack of teachers, standard classrooms have slowed down the progress of universalizing preschool education for 5-year-old children in the province.

Borrowing temporary classrooms is common in mountainous districts, typically Ky Son district still has 47 temporary classrooms, Que Phong 20 classrooms, Quy Chau 11 classrooms,... Due to the complex terrain, economic conditions, difficult transportation, there are still many temporary and semi-permanent school systems, many isolated locations, combined classes of 2-3 ages studying the 5-year-old program (more than 400 classes, of which 5-year-old children account for 1/3), villages are far apart, so children do not go to school regularly. Studying 2 sessions/day and implementing the new preschool program in mountainous districts still have many shortcomings. Meanwhile, in Vinh City, due to the rapid increase in children's need to go to school, many schools are overloaded, the number of children, groups, and classes exceeds the regulations, affecting the quality of child care.

In addition, the physical facilities of many kindergartens are still limited, so the arrangement of teachers, school grounds for children to experience, toys, tables and chairs are still lacking and not uniform. There are nearly 400 5-year-old classes that do not have enough supplies and toys according to regulations, 343 classes lack teaching equipment. Therefore, the organization of activities for children is still limited. The staffing of managers, teachers/class and service staff is not guaranteed. Most kindergartens currently do not have enough medical staff, accountants, cooks, which greatly affects the implementation of child care and nurturing tasks. In many units, the staffing of 5-year-old teachers/class is still low: Que Phong: 1.42; Quy Chau: 1.22; Ky Son: 1.2; Tuong Duong: 1.4...

By the end of 2013, the whole province had 421/480 communes and wards meeting the standards of universal preschool education for 5-year-old children, accounting for 87%, and by July 2014, the whole province still had 7 units that had not achieved universal preschool education for 5-year-old children: Vinh City, Nghi Loc, Que Phong, Quy Chau, Tuong Duong, Ky Son, Hoang Mai. Therefore, the goal of completing universal preschool education for 5-year-old children by the end of 2014 is very difficult to achieve.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Chi - Director of the Department of Education and Training, although the implementation of the project on primary education for 5-year-old children has achieved some initial successes, the province still faces many difficulties that require efforts from localities to complete the project. The Education and Training sector plays a key role in the implementation process. The sector has proactively advised and proposed plans, with positive and timely solutions for Party committees and authorities at all levels in the process of implementing the goals of primary education for 5-year-old children. The Department has established survey teams for localities that have not met the targets, prioritizing investment in facilities and developing the teaching staff. At the same time, localities are encouraged to take advantage of resources from socialized education to equip facilities, thus ensuring the set progress.

Thanh Le