In order to prepare them for the first grade starting in September, many Hanoi parents choose to let their kids skip preschool classes to have time for handwriting ones.

Kids learn to write at Saigon Kindergarten in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City., Photo: Tuoi Tre

Many say their children now spend half a day in kindergarten, the rest being devoted to late afternoon handwriting lessons.

Others even force their kids to totally skip preschool sessions to attend private handwriting practice courses at teachers’ homes.

“I have sent my child to such a course because I don’t want him to fall behind, as his peers are all learning to write at their teachers’ places,” says Uyen, a mother whose child is enrolled at Thanh Xuan Nam Kindergarten in Thanh Xuan District.

Another mother who is going to send her kid to Nguyen Tri Phuong Elementary School, situated in Ba Dinh District, in four months says many of her daughter’s classmates have nearly dropped out of school to spend time on handwriting practice.

A teacher at Dong Tam Kindergarten complains that sometimes up to ten kids skip class for handwriting courses.

Dong Tam principal Minh Hong says many other schools in the city are faced with the same situation.

Those parents who wish to send their kids to high-profile elementary schools are the most willing to let the preschoolers cut kindergarten classes, Hong adds.

A parent explains that preschool teachers do not provide enough proper handwriting practice so they have to find their own ways to best prepare the kids for the first grade.

In Vietnam, children start pre-school at three and begin first grade at six.

Source: Tuoi Tre