Some schools report they have received only one to two registrations from parents, while others say there have had none.
The HCM City Education and Training Department earlier had decided that state-owned schools would receive six- to 18-month-olds in eight districts beginning in the 2014-2015 academic year.
In the interim, one or two state-owned schools were selected in every of the eight districts to take very young children.
In Nha Be District, the Hoa Mi 2 Nursery School has reserved a 70 square meter classroom with modern equipment, but the school has received only one child so far.
Also, the Hoa Anh Dao School in Tay Thanh Ward and Phuong Hong School in Phu Trung Ward in Tan Phu District have prepared classrooms and babysitters but there have been only three applicants.
The schools in Binh Tan district are in the same situation. The district has a high demand for childcare because of the large number of migrant laborers who work in industrial zones and export processing zones there.
Two state-owned nursery schools in Binh Tan district had promised to receive 32 children, but have only two have registered.
Pham Van Dong, head of district 10’s education sub-department, said Mang Non 1, a school that meets national standards, has opened, but there have been no registrations from parents.
Money wasted
While state-owned schools for three- to five-year old children are often full or overloaded, the schools for younger children are not attracting parents.
A report from the HCM City Education and Training Department shows that there are 42,130 children in the city aged six- to 12-months-old, but only 286 children attend school.
According to Tran Trung Hieu, head of the district 12 education sub-department, parents in general would rather take care of children this age themselves. They usually do not consider enrolling their children in school until they are three to five years old.
Hieu said that only parents who have to work full-time at factories or those who cannot hire babysitters enroll their children in school, and they do so only as a last resort.
Chung Bich Phuong, deputy head of Tan Phu district, noted that well-off families prefer leaving their children with hired babysitters who have more flexible hours, while state-owned schools can receive children on working days only.
In addition, many other parents are unable to send their children to school because they are freelance/casual workers, not factory workers, and they don’t have the required residence books that certify they are permanent residents of HCM City.
In the interim, one or two state-owned schools were selected in every of the eight districts to take very young children.
In Nha Be District, the Hoa Mi 2 Nursery School has reserved a 70 square meter classroom with modern equipment, but the school has received only one child so far.
Also, the Hoa Anh Dao School in Tay Thanh Ward and Phuong Hong School in Phu Trung Ward in Tan Phu District have prepared classrooms and babysitters but there have been only three applicants.
The schools in Binh Tan district are in the same situation. The district has a high demand for childcare because of the large number of migrant laborers who work in industrial zones and export processing zones there.
Two state-owned nursery schools in Binh Tan district had promised to receive 32 children, but have only two have registered.
Pham Van Dong, head of district 10’s education sub-department, said Mang Non 1, a school that meets national standards, has opened, but there have been no registrations from parents.
Money wasted
While state-owned schools for three- to five-year old children are often full or overloaded, the schools for younger children are not attracting parents.
A report from the HCM City Education and Training Department shows that there are 42,130 children in the city aged six- to 12-months-old, but only 286 children attend school.
According to Tran Trung Hieu, head of the district 12 education sub-department, parents in general would rather take care of children this age themselves. They usually do not consider enrolling their children in school until they are three to five years old.
Hieu said that only parents who have to work full-time at factories or those who cannot hire babysitters enroll their children in school, and they do so only as a last resort.
Chung Bich Phuong, deputy head of Tan Phu district, noted that well-off families prefer leaving their children with hired babysitters who have more flexible hours, while state-owned schools can receive children on working days only.
In addition, many other parents are unable to send their children to school because they are freelance/casual workers, not factory workers, and they don’t have the required residence books that certify they are permanent residents of HCM City.
