10 years of universal education for preschool children

10. Implementing universaleducation According to the Ministry of Education and Training , from the 2013-2014 school year to present, the preschool network system has been continuously consolidated, expanded and diversified in types, increasingly meeting the needs of preschool education of the people. The whole country currently has 15,334 preschool education facilities with 19,400 schools (an increase of more than 1,200 preschool education facilities, equivalent to 6.6% compared to the 2013-2014 school year; of which there are 3,224 non-public preschool education facilities (21.1%), with a scale of nearly 4.5 million children. [caption id="attachment_603632" align="alignnone" width="768"] Every child has the right to go to school, study and play in a safe and healthy environment.[/caption] In addition, the rate of schools meeting national standards is increasing rapidly; in the 2022-2023 school year, the rate of schools meeting national standards is 55.4% (in the 2013-2014 school year, it was only 25.3%). The rate of mobilizing nursery children and 3-4 year old preschool children to attend class increases every year. The rate of mobilizing nursery children reached 32.1% (an increase of 7.7% compared to the 2013-2014 school year); the rate of mobilizing preschool children reached 93.1% (an increase of 6% compared to 10 years ago). Conditions to ensure the quality of preschool education are gradually standardized and invested in development towards standardization and modernization. Currently, the rate of national standard schools is 56.9%. The number and quality of teachers and managers of preschool education have increased sharply, gradually meeting the requirements of preschool education development. To date, the country has nearly 378,400 preschool teachers (an increase of nearly 97,000 teachers compared to 10 years ago); of which the rate of teachers meeting standards or higher is 87.3%, above standards is 65.1%; the teacher/class ratio is 1.86. To date, the rate of mobilizing 5-year-old preschool children has reached over 99.7%, the rate of 5-year-old preschool children completing preschool education programs has remained above 99.7%; the rate of 5-year-old preschool children studying 2 sessions/day every year is 99.9%. However, the network of preschools has not yet met the requirements of scale development and quality improvement of education, especially in large cities, areas with many industrial parks, urban areas, ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, river areas, islands, and borders. Currently, the whole country still has 6.9% of preschool children and 67.9% of nursery children who have not been cared for, nurtured, and educated at preschools to access preschool education programs. Access to preschool education for children, especially ethnic minority children and children with disabilities, is still limited, and the goal of free tuition has not been achieved before 2020. Currently, the free tuition policy only applies to 5-year-old preschool children in areas with especially difficult socio -economic conditions, with parents or caregivers... in extremely difficult villages and communes, ethnic minority and mountainous areas... 5-year-old children in the remaining areas are expected to be exempted from tuition fees from the 2024-2025 school year according to the roadmap prescribed in Decree 81/2021/ND-CP of the Government. Continuing to implement universal education According to the Department of Preschool Education, 15 provinces will pilot universal education for preschool children, including: Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Ninh Binh, Hai Phong, Lao Cai, Dien Bien, Son La, Hoa Binh, Da Nang, Kon Tum, Soc Trang, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City, Long An, Bac Lieu. These localities are clearly stated in the draft Resolution on piloting universal preschool education for preschool children in some provinces and cities to collect comments. The Ministry of Education and Training said that this is to ensure the implementation of the Law on Children and international conventions that Vietnam has signed; improve the quality of nurturing, caring for and educating preschool children when universalizing. [caption id="attachment_603620" align="alignnone" width="768"] Children are one of the subjects whose right to education is protected the most.[/caption] The pilot program will be applied to both the public and private sectors. In the private sector, implementing units will be allocated enough land to build schools and auxiliary works, exempted from land use fees and land rent. In addition, investment projects in building facilities and child care will be subject to corporate income tax of 5-10% for 15-20 years, exempted from income tax for 5 years and reduced by 50% for the next 10 years. In the public sector, preschool teachers under the pilot program will be supported with a minimum of VND960,000 per month for 9 months, and will receive annual knowledge and skills training according to the Ministry's program. Meanwhile, children aged 3-4, 4-5 years old at public schools are exempted from tuition fees, supported with a minimum lunch allowance of 360,000 VND and study expenses of 160,000 VND per month. The support period is calculated based on the actual number of months of study, but not exceeding 9 months a year. The resolution will focus on solving three groups of policies. The first is to arrange financial resources and investment incentives to implement universal preschool education for preschool children. The second is the policy to attract staff and incentives for preschool teachers, ensuring a team of preschool teachers to implement the goal of universal preschool education for preschool children. The third is to perfect the incentive policy for preschool children of universal age, ensuring the proportion of preschool-age children mobilized to preschool education facilities to be nurtured, cared for and educated according to the preschool education program. The expected time for submitting the draft Resolution to the National Assembly for comments and approval is in the October session of the 15th National Assembly and approval according to the one-session process, drafting the Resolution according to the shortened order and procedures. Currently, the whole country has just implemented universal preschool education for 5-year-old children.