VietNamNet Bridge - If the draft education law compiled by the Ministry of Education & Training (MOET) is approved, preschools will have to receive children from 3 months old to six years old. 

Preschool teachers keep complaining about low pay

Teachers complain the regulation will place a heavy burden on their shoulders, while parents doubt the regulation can be implemented in reality.

“I hope MOET doesn’t allow preschools to receive 3-month-old babies. Preschool teachers always have to bear even more pressure,” said Thu Huyen, a teacher of Minh Khai Nursery School in Hoai Duc district, Hanoi.

Huyen said a 3-old-month baby will need care from one teacher. “Will preschools recruit more teachers? If so, teachers will easily make mistakes,” she warned.

Huyen went on to say that MOET’s plan on receiving 3-month old babies is unfeasible because many preschool teachers don’t have skills and experience to take care of babies at the age.

“It is hard to take care of 6-month old babies, not to mention 3-month olds,” Huyen said.

Thanh Nga, a teacher at a private nursery school in Ba Dinh district, warned that preschool teachers may give up the job because of low pay and poor working conditions.

A newly graduated preschool and primary school teacher receives an average VND3.2 million ($150) a month, far below the income of a taxi motorbike driver or a sidewalk ice tea seller.

“There are nine children aged six months or older in my class and the school assigns four teachers to take care of them. In state-owned schools, where there are few teachers and many children, this will be a big problem,” Nga said.

Thai Lien Huong, a teacher at Chu Van An Kindergarten in Tay Ho district in Hanoi, commented that the poor facilities and the lack of teachers will make it difficult to implement the request from MOET.

According to the Cau Giay district education sub-department, no state-owned school accepts children less than 12 months old. Only one private run school accepts children aged 6 months or older. 

The 20-10 Kindergarten is one of a few state-owned schools in Hanoi which accepts 18 month old children.

Meanwhile, an analyst said that the demand will be low in urban areas because parents do not want send their babies to school too early. Under current law, mothers have 6-month maternity leave.

However, he said the demand may come from migrant workers who work at factories in industrial zones. As they cannot count on their parents’ help, they may have to leave their babies at kindergartens.

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