VietNamNet Bridge - State-owned preschools in Hanoi and HCMC are expected to be overloaded this year because of the high number of children born in 2012, the year of the ‘golden dragon’ and 2013, the year of the ‘diamond snake’.

Nguyen Thi Phuong and her family members moved to live in an apartment of Number One Thang Long building in early 2016. Previously, when they lived in Trung Van residential quarter, her son, born in 2013, went to a private school nearby.

However, only two private schools are near Number One Thang Long, but they both require high tuition.  

Phuong has found a preschool in Cau Giay district which can satisfy her requirements. As it is a state-owned school, she won’t have to pay high tuition. Meanwhile, it is not too far from her house.

However, in principle, this is not the school Phuong’s son can enroll in, because the school only accepts children in Cau Giay district. 

State-owned preschools in Hanoi and HCMC are expected to be overloaded this year because of the high number of children born in 2012, the year of the ‘golden dragon’ and 2013, the year of the ‘diamond snake’.

“I am on tenterhooks as I still don’t known which school to bring my son to,” she complained.

Pham Hoang Hoa is happy about the apartment she bought at Linh Dam new urban area but she feels embarrassed as there is no school for her two children. 

“There is a newly built preschool in the area, but it still does not enroll students. I cannot afford the tuition to send my children to private schools,” she said.

Even if parents send their children to private schools, they don’t have many choices. The Tu Hiep commune authorities have forced to close four privately-run classes in the locality after a child abuse case was discovered at Tuoi Hoa Class there.

Lacking preschools is the problem of nearly all new urban areas in Hanoi. The preschools in Cau Giay district not only have to receive children in the same district, but also children from Nam Tu Liem and Bac Tu Liem districts as well. In the newly established districts, the educational system there still needs reorganization.

According to the Cau Giay district education and training sub-department, there are 4,495 children at the age of 4 in the locality. However, the 14 state-owned schools in the district only plan to enroll 190 more children this year. Meanwhile, nine out of 14 schools don’t plan to enroll 4-year-old children because they give priority to enroll 5-year-old children.

The same situation can be seen in HCMC. Some parents in Thu Duc district said they had to leave home at 4 am and queue up in front of the school in Hiep Binh Chanh Ward to buy application forms to register their children for the school.

Tien Phong