VietNamNet Bridge - Hong Thuy, a worker at Euro Window Company in Quang Minh Industrial Zone in Hanoi, said she has been looking for a preschool for her 2-year-old daughter Susu, for many months. 

 

She did not want to enroll her child in a privately run school because of the high tuition, but she could not find a state-owned school. Finally, she had to send the child to a privately run class as the last resort.

Thuy’s daughter’s classroom covers 30 square meters, where 25 children are cared for two teachers. Thuy has to pay tuition of VND900,000 a month, which includes expenses for two meals. 

Thuy fears that two meals are not enough for the daughter, so she has asked the teachers to feed the girl milk and biscuits she brings to the class. 

Thousands of workers in the suburbs of Hanoi cannot find schools for their children. Le Thi Ly in Bac Thang Long Industrial Zone complained that state-owned schools in Hanoi close the doors to the children of migrant workers like her.

“I cannot afford the high tuition set by privately run schools,” she said.

Some international nursery schools charge the fees of nearly VND10 million a month. At other schools, parents only have to pay tens of thousands of dong per day, including the expenses for the meals. However, the parents all feel anxious about the quality of nursery schools.

Tran Van Kham from Tuyen Quang province, who is a worker at Sucall Company, was luckier than Thuy and Ly because he has found a seat at a state-owned school for his child.

In order to do so, Kham had to move to a place 3 kilometers away from where he once lived.

“There are fewer migrant workers in the commune I moved to. A nursery school here still has vacancies it gave priority to receive locals’ children. Therefore, I am lucky enough to enroll in the school,” he said.

Hoang Thanh Huong from the Hanoi Education and Training Department said the demand for preschools was very high, especially in areas with many industrial zones. 

Therefore, the education department has increased the number of preschools – state owned, privately run and household-run classes in the last years. 

In the Dong Anh Industrial Zone area, for example, there are over 20 household-run classes. 

However, as Huong admitted, parents don’t want to send their children to the privately run or household-run schools or classes because of high tuition.

Nguyen Ba Minh from the Ministry of Education and Training confirmed that state-owned schools still lack seats to meet demand.

Lao Dong