Deputy Minister of Education: Horrified by the actions of the nannies!

"I was very upset and truly horrified by the actions of the teachers there. Their violent actions towards the children made me very sad."

That was the sharing of Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thi Nghia when talking with Dan Tri reporter about the case of a teacher abusing preschool children at Mam Xanh educational facility (District 12, Ho Chi Minh City) that caused public outrage.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thi Nghia.

- A video of female teachers beating, kicking, and threatening students with knives has just been recorded by the press, causing public outrage. Are the leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training aware of this, Deputy Minister?

Before the report of the Department of Preschool leaders about the incident, I directly watched this video through the previous news program.

I was very upset and really horrified by the actions of the teachers there. Their violent actions towards the children made me very sad.

Last night (November 26), the Department of Preschool Education (Ministry of Education and Training) had a written report, but this morning (November 27), I personally called the Board of Directors of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, requesting the Director and Deputy Director of the Department to personally inspect the site and coordinate with relevant departments to strictly handle the matter.

- This is not the first time a private class group has had violence. In your opinion, what is the responsibility of the units that license these classes, when so many heartbreaking stories of violence have occurred?

Licensing of preschool groups is directly at the local level. The local education unit is responsible for the technical aspects.

I think this is a lesson in management at the local level, as well as strengthening inspection and licensing for groups of classes according to regulations for handling, especially at the ward level.

Teacher used a bottle to hit a child's head (photo from video).

- Teachers abusing children in schools has long angered the public. What do you think when children go to class and are supposed to be safe, but serious physical violence occurs?

We are very concerned about this issue because children going to school and class must be safe first. However, here, the teachers use all possible objects such as: ladles, plastic buckets, bottles... even knives to threaten students. That not only affects the physical but also causes deep mental damage to the children.

There have been several cases of violence in schools in the past, but this is perhaps the most serious. This also shows that localities and education departments need to review whether the licensing of educational establishments is in accordance with regulations, and at the same time strengthen inspection and supervision.

- What is the opinion of the leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training on this incident, Deputy Minister?

On the afternoon of November 27, the units will report the incident to the Ministry of Education and Training. That shows that we are very interested in the incident. The authorities and the police are also investigating and our point of view is that the case must be handled seriously, with the right person and the right crime.

In my opinion, the above actions can even be considered for criminal prosecution. I also discussed with the Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, even the head of the class group is violent, it is unbelievable.

- Ho Chi Minh City is one of the localities with many serious cases of teachers abusing preschool children discovered by the press. If there were no press, how long would these incidents last and how would they affect the children, madam?

Ho Chi Minh City is a locality where the Party Committee, the People's Committee and the departments are very determined. They have Resolution 01/2014 NQ-HDND on supporting preschool education. They are also the pioneer in piloting the acceptance of children from 6 months old in educational facilities, but the schools are still overloaded because of the large number of immigrants, so they have to open private classes.

However, no matter what, we still have to closely monitor the opening of schools because many times, teachers often dump all the frustrations in life on the children, which is absolutely not allowed. This can be considered as torturing the children, not simply.

Green Kindergarten Education Facility (Ho Chi Minh City).

- In your opinion, how can parents feel secure sending their children to small and medium-sized classes when there are mainly unqualified teachers? Meanwhile, many parents do not have the conditions to send their children to classes with cameras?

Recently, the Government issued Decision 404/QD-TTG to support the development of private independent childcare groups. Of which, 10 provinces have implemented it and Ho Chi Minh City is one of those 10 provinces. Specifically, this locality has supported facilities, supported teacher training to qualify for licensing... In addition, the Women's Union also has many activities to support private groups.

However, in industrial processing zones in Binh Duong, Dong Nai… there are many groups of classes but currently there are still not enough. And these groups of classes pose many potential risks to children’s safety because there are people who are well-trained but there are also people who are not properly trained, lack qualifications and skills and often come to work at these facilities.

Therefore, in my opinion, another solution besides supporting facilities is to strengthen the combination with regular inspection work, starting from licensing to monitoring activities.

- In your opinion, should we add a regulation that public schools can accept children under 2 years old because at this age, children need special care. Meanwhile, public schools often refuse children who are too young?

This is not correct because according to the Preschool Regulations, preschools are allowed to accept children from 3 months to 72 months old.

However, because many public facilities do not have the facilities and teachers to accept children who are too young due to the high risk of safety, parents often have to send their children to private classes. And not all localities have the facilities to pilot kindergartens that accept children 6 months and older, as in Ho Chi Minh City recently.

- Thank you very much, Deputy Minister!

According to Dan Tri