Vinh City: Reducing the "heat" of preschool enrollment

(Baonghean) - Along with the attention to investing in facilities for public kindergartens and the development of non-public kindergartens, in the 2015-2016 school year, preschool enrollment in Vinh city has become less "hot".

Ms. Phan Thi Hong Thanh, Tan Loc block, Hung Dung ward has a 3-year-old son. Last year, she applied to study at Hung Dung 2 Kindergarten but was not selected by lottery, so he had to study at a private school. This year, from August 5, Ms. Thanh submitted her application and waited anxiously and worriedly. After more than 10 days, the family received a notice from the school that the child was admitted. Ms. Thanh happily shared: "I have one less worry, because my child can go to school near home, I can rest assured about the quality and the tuition is lower than private schools." That is also the common concern of parents with children studying at preschool age in the ward, because this year, Hung Dung 2 Kindergarten organizes enrollment by reviewing documents, which means that 100% of children in the area who want to go to class will have their needs met.

Explaining the "reduction" of preschool enrollment, Ms. Ho Thi Anh, Principal of Hung Dung 2 Kindergarten, said that this school year, the city and ward invested over 3 billion VND to build a new 2-storey building; added 3 classrooms, 2 functional rooms, bringing the total to 15 classrooms. In addition, new teaching and learning equipment was also purchased to serve the children. Thanks to that, not only did the enrollment pressure decrease, but the school also had better conditions to care for and educate the children when the class size was "expanded" to about 37 children/class (compared to 45-47 children/class of the previous school year).

Admission procedures at Hung Dung 2 Kindergarten.

Entering this school year, some kindergartens in suburban areas also enroll students by selection such as: Hung Chinh, Hung Hoa, Nghi Duc... Although this year, the number of children in Vinh City who need to enter preschool is higher than last year, especially the group of children born in 2012 (Golden Dragon) with nearly 8,800 children. But on the contrary, the number of universal preschool students (5 years old) has decreased significantly compared to previous years, so schools can flexibly increase the quota for the 2012 group. The pressure to enroll preschool students in most wards in the area has decreased compared to before, which is a common assessment in this year's enrollment season.

According to Ms. Le Thi Phuong, Deputy Head of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh City: "Many schools have invested in building new classrooms to meet the needs of parents. Specifically, in the 2015-2016 school year, Viet Lao Kindergarten built 2 new classrooms, Dong Vinh Kindergarten invested in 3 classrooms, Hung Dung 1 Kindergarten built 4 new classrooms, Hung Dung 2 built 3 new classrooms and 2 functional rooms. In the 2014-2015 school year, Vinh City People's Committee invested in building 18 new classrooms in public schools. For wards that do not have public kindergartens such as Hung Phuc and Le Loi, the Department of Education and Training of the city directed neighboring wards to arrange to receive children in these wards to ensure the rights of children to go to school. On the other hand, the quality of care and nurturing of children in public kindergartens in the area is generally quite uniform, so parents are less likely to choose middle schools. focus on children's studies; that also more or less contributes to reducing pressure on schools in central areas".

One of the important solutions contributing to reducing input pressure in kindergartens this school year is the increasing number of non-public kindergartens. In the 2015-2016 school year alone, the city has 4 new non-public kindergartens in operation, including: Anh Duong International Kindergarten, ABC Kindergarten, Viet-Sing International Kindergarten and Sunny Kid Kindergarten; bringing the total number of non-public kindergartens to 27 (equal to the number of public kindergartens currently in the area). The conditions of guaranteed facilities and good quality of childcare of non-public kindergartens have been improved, changing the thinking of many parents who previously only wanted their children to study in public schools. Each year, non-public kindergartens attract over 4,000 children, accounting for about 25% of the number of children in the city.

To reduce the pressure on preschool enrollment, Vinh City is encouraging investors to build more private preschools. At the same time, the Education sector is strengthening management, inspection, and supervision; at the same time, focusing on support to improve the quality of child care and education. Only then can the private school system contribute to sharing the enrollment burden with public schools, so that each preschool enrollment season in the city is no longer stressful.

Dinh Nguyet