Hot growth in preschool education: The governing industry is helpless

(Baonghean) - Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Chi - Director of the Department of Education and Training said that the key to solving the overload situation in preschools consists of two factors: schools and teachers.

» Public kindergartens are overloaded: Forecasting 5 years in advance is still 'unclear'?

» Bringing a knife to preschool for your child: Why?

» Strange regulation at kindergarten not accepting third child

According to her, the Department does not have the right to decide or manage these two factors, it is only responsible for consulting and inspecting.

The question now is: Within its authority and responsibility, what can the Department of Education and Training do to contribute to solving the "hot growth" situation in preschools?

Tighten forecasting and statistics work

As mentioned in the article “The current situation of “hot growth” in preschool education: Forecasts from many years still cannot be resolved?” published in Nghe An Newspaper on September 20, 2016, the demand for enrollment in preschool education can be estimated 3-5 years in advance based on data such as birth rate, rate of children attending school in the previous year, etc. From there, it is possible to forecast the size of the school and the number of teachers needed to meet the standards in the Charter of Preschool Education.

But if it is so predictable, why does "hot growth" and sudden growth still occur outside of the approved plan?

Estimated population by age as of August 31, 2016 of Nam Dan district. Data provided by the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province.

In fact, the statistics reported by the Department of Education and Training when compared with the data of the Provincial Department of Population and Family Planning have many differences. For example, in 2013, the number of children born in the year according to the Department's report was 72,975 children, while the Department's data was only 59,202 children.

Or even in the 2016-2017 school year, the Department's survey showed that there were 57,749 5-year-old children attending school (children born in 2011), but the Department's data stated that the number of children born that year was only 46,605?! The huge difference between the data of the two sectors of course raises questions, and if the data of the Education sector is not accurate, then the school network planning that the sector proposed based on the number of children will have to be questioned.

Responding to a question from a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper about the above data discrepancy, Ms. Vo Thi Thanh Binh - Head of the Department's Financial Planning Department affirmed: "We obtained data through 2 channels and both have clear legal bases.

Firstly, through the data sent from the Statistical Office of the districts, these documents all have the signature and red seal of the Department, representatives of the Department of Education and Training, and leaders of the District People's Committee. Secondly, through the online statistical software of the Ministry of Education and Training, the data is entered by schools, after a certain period of time the system will lock the data. In addition, we have sent staff to the locality to check and verify the data. We affirm that the Department's data is objective and well-founded."

Assuming that the data is incorrect, the Head of the Department's Financial Planning Department believes that the error lies in the data reported by the locality, and the Department is only responsible for synthesizing it.

Statistics and forecasting are important steps in building the roadmap, school network scale and human resources of the education sector. Illustrative photo.

Another shortcoming in forecasting is the lag between actual data and planned targets. In the Summary Report of the 2015-2016 school year, the direction and tasks of the 2016-2017 school year and the Report on Preparations for the Opening of the 2016-2017 school year of the Department of Education and Training, it is stated that the 2016-2017 school year is forecast to increase by 27,000 children compared to the previous school year. According to the industry's calculations, it is necessary to add 460 classrooms and 1,700 preschool teachers.

However, giving this figure so close to the new school year makes it difficult to resolve it in time for the school year. Assuming that the above additional requirements are resolved by the next school year, the actual figures will have changed again.

Typically, 900 recruitment targets were approved for the 2015-2016 school year, but have not yet been completed. Thus, the solutions and targets that the sector has advised are like the wrong size shirt, too small compared to the rapid growth trend of preschool education.

Strengthening the advisory role in human resources work

Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Chi - Director of the Department of Education and Training pointed out the rapid growth in preschool education at the 2nd session of the 17th Provincial People's Council in early August. Photo courtesy.

The Director of the Department of Education and Training admitted that recruiting preschool teachers currently has many difficulties.

“Before 2016, when the Project on Universal Preschool Education for 5-year-old children of the Ministry of Education and Training was still in effect, we coordinated with the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Finance to work with the Ministry of Home Affairs, based on the policies in the project and Circular 09 of the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of lunch support for preschool children and policies for preschool teachers.

Thanks to that, 2,500 additional recruitment targets were approved with salary payment source from the Central budget. The Department advised the province to recruit 1,600 targets in the 2014-2015 school year and 900 targets for the 2015-2016 school year, reducing the pressure of teacher shortage for preschool level.

Currently, the Project on Universal Preschool Education for 5-year-old children has expired, so it no longer receives support from the central budget to pay salaries for preschool teachers. If we want to recruit more now, it will be very difficult, because the province's salary fund is limited."

This problem is not without a solution. In the past 2 years, the Department of Education and Training has consulted and received approval from the Provincial People's Committee for a plan to transfer surplus teachers from primary and secondary schools to preschools instead of recruiting new teachers. This solution is highly feasible because teachers from preschool to secondary schools are under the management of local authorities, so the transfer process will not encounter administrative obstacles.

One advantage of this solution compared to recruiting new preschool teachers is that instead of asking for additional budget to pay salaries, localities can coordinate the salary fund among preschool, primary and secondary levels, taking advantage of the budget used to pay for the surplus teaching force at the higher levels.

According to information from the Department of Education and Training, Nghe An province currently has a surplus of nearly 2,000 primary and secondary school teachers. If retraining and rotation are provided for preschool education, there will be almost no need for new recruitment in this segment.

Candidates taking the entrance exam for the Preschool Department of Vinh University during the last admission season. Photo courtesy.

Meanwhile, the “hot growth” figures along with the shortage of preschool teachers in recent years have made the preschool education industry a “hot” industry. In the past two years, the Preschool Education Department of Vinh University has always had the second highest admission competition rate among the faculties: nearly 30 candidates for 1.

Similarly, at Nghe An Pedagogical College, while the Primary and Secondary Education departments each only recruit 5-10 candidates, the Preschool Department has a quota of over 300 candidates per year, and is the only department that recruits effectively.

It is not difficult to predict a surplus of preschool graduates in the next few years, when information about the industry's recruitment needs is not widely disseminated to training institutions, contributing to orienting students and parents, effectively solving the needs and minimizing the employment burden on society.

Quoting the Director of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province: “It is said that growth is hot but it is not really hot. Because this situation has been going on for too long, like a chronic disease, every year the press talks about it, every year the Department organizes meetings to discuss and propose solutions. But in the end, the Department only has advisory authority, even though this is the field under the Department's management.”

Indeed, the teacher quota is approved by the Department of Home Affairs, the local government recruits and pays the regime, but all those moves are based on the assessment, statistics and calculation of the needs of the Department of Education and Training. The above analysis has shown the importance of consulting work in planning the roadmap and thereby, shows the great responsibility of the education sector.

PV Group