VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Education and Training plans to ask the Government to allocate land and funds from the State budget to develop preschool education in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

Workers are building a pre-school in southern Dong Thap Province's Cao Lanh District's Binh Thanh Commune. The school will also provide a free playground for children in the locality. (Photo: VNS)

The ministry had also proposed that preferential policies be created to attract private companies to invest in preschools, Luan said at a conference to discuss the status of preschool education in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, held recently in Hau Giang Province.

Funds from other sources besides the State were needed because the Government was currently reducing unnecessary State funding in an effort to curb inflation.

The ministry reported that the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta had more than 1,680 nursery schools, with public schools accounting for 90 per cent.

A total of 215 communes had no nursery school and 27.5 per cent of kindergarten classrooms were located in primary schools or cultural houses.

There is a shortage of more than 2,280 teachers for kindergartens.

Around 15 per cent of the total number of teachers do not meet teaching qualifications.

According to the 2010-15 national plan on compulsory pre-school education for five-year-old children, the region needs VND14.66 trillion (US$698 million) to build kindergartens that meet national standards, purchase equipment and train teachers.

Of that figure, the State budget accounts for VND11.93 trillion (US$568 million), or 81.3 per cent of the total.

Participants said the Government should give priority to funding and human resources to develop preschool education in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, which has fallen behind the rest of the country.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News