Preschool Education: Searching for a school that meets quality standards

The target was that by the end of 2016, 40% of kindergartens nationwide would be assessed as meeting level one quality, but by the end of 2014, this rate was only 7.1%.

This is the parameter announced by the Ministry of Education and Training at the conference to implement the project to enhance school readiness for preschool children.

Illustration photo: VNA

The project has been implemented since 2013, including 8 indicators related to issues such as the rate of 5-year-old children attending school, self-assessment and external assessment of preschools, training of core lecturers, training of teachers and managers of preschools... Of which, the two indicators that are most difficult to achieve progress are the rate of schools assessed to meet level 1 quality standards and the rate of teachers and managers receiving professional training.

According to the assessment of the Ministry of Education and Training, the rate of kindergartens meeting level one standards is the most difficult target of the project to achieve and requires drastic solutions to overcome it.

The target of 40% of schools meeting the standards has been set, but currently only 7.1% have been achieved, which is still far from the requirement. Of these, 32 provinces have only 3% of kindergartens assessed externally at level 1 or higher, 23 provinces have achieved less than 3%. In particular, there are 9 provinces that have not yet conducted any external assessment of kindergartens by the end of 2014, such as Da Nang, Vinh Long, Ca Mau, Tra Vinh, Tien Giang, Ninh Thuan...

Statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training also show that the rate of kindergartens meeting quality standards is low not only in disadvantaged localities but also in favorable areas such as Ho Chi Minh City (2.8%), Hanoi (2.3%)...

The target of the rate of teachers and kindergarten administrators receiving training as required is also a big challenge when implementing the project. By the end of December 2014, the rate of teachers and administrators receiving training as required was only 50.7% while the target was 90%.

According to Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thi Nghia, the cause of this situation is due to economic difficulties, investment in facilities for preschools does not meet requirements, especially in mountainous schools with many separate schools. Besides, there are many other reasons such as difficulties in the quality assessment process, disbursement mechanism, inadequacies in budget management... Therefore, in the coming time, there must be many solutions to promote the progress of completing the project's goals.

According to Vietnam+