The children in Binh Hung Hoa Ward in Binh Tan district of HCM City must attend a two month training course at state owned kindergartens before entering primary schools.

Instead of persuading all six-year-old children to go to school, the local authorities of Binh Hung Hoa ward has told local schools only to accept the children who finish nursery school.

The regulation that children have to experience the pre-school compulsory class at state owned nursery schools to be eligible for first grade has raised big worries among hundreds of parents in the locality. Since state owned schools do not have enough seats to accept all children, a lot of parents decided not to bring their children to nursery schools. And now they are facing the risk of being refused to enter the first grade.

The two-month pre-school training course

The Binh Hung Hoa ward People’s Committee has organized a meeting to introduce the enrolment plan for primary schools in the locality. Parents were told that the children who went to private kindergartens or did not go to nursery schools, would have to register to attend the two-month pre-school preparation class in order to get the certificates on finishing the compulsory education program for 5-year old children.

High ranking officials emphasized that only when finishing the compulsory education program, will the children be eligible for going to primary school. 

The two-month training course proves to be the only solution to the children who did not go to nursery school. The course would be opened from June 11 to August 11 at the Phong Lan Nursery School, the only state owned school in the ward.

Nguyen Thi Cam Le, a parent, complained that she cannot understand why her child is not allowed to enter the first grade, while the State’s policy says that all 6-year-old children must go to school.

“Will my child grow up an illiterate person, just because I did not sent him to a state owned kindergarten?” she questioned.

Nguyen Thi Tam, a mother, said her child could not go to nursery school because she could not afford the tuitions. However, she wants the child to go to primary school whatever it costs.

“Therefore, I plan to register the two-month training course for my child. This is the only way to the first grade,” she complained, adding that she would have to spend some more money for the training course.

Tam said many other parents in the ward are facing the same problems. They are all immigrant workers, who undertake simple jobs to earn their living. Therefore, they have to cut down expenses and only spend money on the most essential needs.

Local authorities: we follow the instructions of the higher

Explaining the requirements, Le Thi Anh Hong, a local official, said that she simply follows the instructions by the Binh Tan district’s education sub-department.

“There are tens of private run nursery classes in the ward, both licensed and unlicensed. Therefore, it’s unclear about the education quality of the children attending the classes,” she explained.

The children have been told to follow a training course before entering the first grade because they need to be well prepared for the primary education,” she added.

Meanwhile, Tran Huu Vinh, Head of the Binh Tan district’s education sub-department has affirmed that no such regulation has been set up. He said children are encouraged to go to nursery school to be well prepared for the primary school, while this is not a must.

Source: Dat Viet/ VNN