Ho Chi Minh City: Over 1,000 illegal preschools.

This information was provided by Dr. Nguyen Kim Dung, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Educational Research, at the announcement ceremony of the "Buds on the Branch" Education Fund, organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Educational Research in collaboration with Home Credit Vietnam on February 19th in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Dr. Kim Dung, these illegal preschools are mainly concentrated in suburban districts of Ho Chi Minh City such as Binh Tan, Thu Duc, and Tan Phu… while the capacity to meet the demand for childcare in the city is very limited. Specifically, in Binh Tan district, public schools meet nearly 20% of the children's needs; in Thu Duc district, they only accommodate over 11%… Currently, private preschools are caring for 115,200 children aged 3 months to 6 years old (less than 48% of children attending preschool). However, it is noteworthy that over 80% of these children depend on private facilities, including unlicensed ones; and particularly, there are more than 300 teachers and caregivers who have not received proper training.

According to Dr. Kim Dung, because most public kindergartens do not accept children under 18 months old, most parents with children under 18 have to send their children to private daycare centers. With low incomes and shift work schedules, industrial zone workers have few choices and are largely forced to entrust their children to private, non-public childcare facilities, which pose many potential safety risks for children.

Faced with this unfortunate situation, the "Buds on the Branch" Education Fund was established to share some of the burden with workers whose children are at potential risk of abuse. Accordingly, the fund provides scholarships worth 1 billion VND for preschool-aged children of workers in export processing zones and industrial parks in three provinces/cities: Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai.

The organizing committee will award a total of 1,000 scholarships (1 million VND per scholarship) to families of workers with young children (6 months to 5 years old) in these three areas. Specifically, 350 scholarships will be awarded in Ho Chi Minh City through the Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing Zones and Industrial Parks Management Board (HEPZA); 325 scholarships to workers in Dong Nai through the Dong Nai Industrial Parks Management Board (DIZA); and 325 scholarships to workers in Binh Duong through the Binh Duong Industrial Parks Management Board (BDIZA). The scholarship awarding ceremony is expected to take place in three phases in the three localities in April and May.

As part of the "Buds on the Branch" Scholarship Fund, Home Credit will collaborate with the Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Education Research to organize training sessions, consultations, and talks on topics such as early childhood education, understanding child psychology, and recognizing child abuse, targeting working parents in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai, led by leading education experts.

According to HNMO