Ho Chi Minh City: More than 1,000 illegal preschools

That is the information received from 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 coordination with Home Credit Vietnam on February 19 in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Dr. Kim Dung, the above illegal preschools are mainly concentrated in suburban districts of the city such as Binh Tan, Thu Duc, Tan Phu... While the ability 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; Thu Duc district only handles over 11% of the children... Currently, non-public preschools are taking care of 115,200 children from 3 months to 6 years old (rarely 48% of the children attending preschool). However, it is worth mentioning that over 80% of the children depend on non-public facilities, including unlicensed ones; especially there are over 300 teachers and nannies who have not been trained.

According to Dr. Kim Dung, because most public kindergartens do not accept children under 18 months old, most parents with children under 18 months old have to send their children to family childcare groups. With low incomes and shift work conditions, workers in industrial zones do not have many options but have to entrust their children to small, non-public childcare facilities that pose many potential risks to children's safety.

Faced with the sad reality above, the “Bud on the Branch” Education Fund was established to share some of the difficulties of workers whose children are at risk of violence. Accordingly, the scholarship fund worth 1 billion VND is for children of preschool age of workers in export processing zones and industrial parks in 3 provinces and cities: Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Dong Nai.

The Organizing Committee will award a total of 1,000 scholarships (VND 1 million/scholarship) to families of workers with young children (from 6 months to 5 years old) in these 3 locations. Specifically, 350 scholarships will be awarded in Ho Chi Minh City through the City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (HEPZA); 325 scholarships to workers in Dong Nai through the Dong Nai Industrial Zones Authority (DIZA) and 325 scholarships to workers in Binh Duong through the Binh Duong Industrial Zones Authority (BDIZA). The scholarship awarding ceremony is expected to take place in 3 phases in 3 locations in April and May.

Within the framework of the “Buds on the Branch” Scholarship Fund, Home Credit will cooperate with the City Institute of Educational Research to organize training, consultation and talks on topics such as raising preschool children, understanding child psychology, how to recognize child abuse, etc. for parents who are workers in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Dong Nai, conducted by leading educational experts.

According to HNMO