How to reduce 'reporting pressure' for preschool teachers?

Faced with the reality that it takes managers and preschool teachers weeks, even months, just to complete a summary report, the Ministry of Education and Training has directed that preschool education must urgently be digitized to reduce administrative pressure.

PROFESSIONAL PRESSURE, REPORTS, PAPERWORK

At the workshop "Application of information technology for digital transformation in management and childcare, care and education in preschools; Proposing a model for childcare, care and education on digital platforms and digital technology" organized by the Ministry of Education and Training last week in Ho Chi Minh City, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thanh De, Director of the Department of Preschool Education, Ministry of Education and Training, told a story from his own experience. He said that when he took up his assignment at the Department of Preschool Education in March, the school year had to be summarized by May. Thus, within just one month, a report summarizing the school year of preschool education had to be produced. However, the original numbers and data were not standardized, methodical and lacked uniformity, so making a report summarizing the school year took a long time and encountered many difficulties. Mr. De also said that this is a common situation at the grassroots level, department level, and Department of Education and Training level. Many places take weeks just for specialists and teachers to focus on completing a school year report.

Preschool teachers are busy with activities of caring for, nurturing, educating children, reporting, studying to improve their expertise...

PHOTO: NHAT THINH

Sharing with Thanh Nien reporter, Ms. TN, a kindergarten teacher at a school in Phuoc Long Ward (HCMC), said that she is not only busy from 6:45 to 17:00 (or sometimes more) taking care of, nurturing, and educating children, but also has other tasks such as completing reports, child care and nurturing assessment tables, surveys, etc. In addition, there are other documents and administrative papers related to union work, cultural activities, emulation movements, etc.

A teacher named Duy Nguyen sent his opinion to Thanh Nien Newspaper saying: "There are many competitions such as environment, classroom decoration, STEAM, and program changes... so a preschool teacher who moves from one class to another must rent a car to transport supplies and children's toys. This affects the teacher's mental health, not to mention the records, books, and daily health records of children...".

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Doan, Principal of Hoa Mai Kindergarten, Binh Thoi Ward (HCMC), who is also the head of the professional cluster No. 6 of preschool education in HCMC, admitted that preschool managers face pressure in reporting, not only in terms of expertise but also in terms of concurrent tasks. However, digitalization has helped to reduce this pressure somewhat. Ms. Doan gave an example of synchronization on the common data axis of the preschool education sector in HCMC, which makes it more convenient to capture information, synthesize, and report...

DIGITALIZATION TO REDUCE PRESSURE ON TEACHERS

The country currently has more than 30,000 preschools (15,200 schools and over 17,000 independent schools and childcare groups). Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thanh De affirmed that the most practical digital transformation must be changed from the mindset of each teacher and manager.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thanh De, Director of the Department of Preschool Education, Ministry of Education and Training

PHOTO: THUY HANG

According to Mr. De, digitalization serves the main work of preschool teachers, from applying AI (artificial intelligence) to support educational planning, using QR codes to monitor children's health and nutrition; developing a shared digital science database... to reduce administrative burden, not to beautify the achievement board. "Digitalization is to reduce the time spent on reporting, so teachers have more time to care for, educate, and play with children. If teachers are happy, children will be happy," Mr. De emphasized.

According to Mr. De, to effectively implement digitalization in preschool education, the education sector of the 34 localities after the merger must pay attention to reviewing and entering correct and complete data from the beginning. To achieve this, the data entry of each school must be accurate and complete, which is the responsibility of the principals. Mr. De said that this is the first task that localities need to thoroughly do in the late 2025 and early 2026 period.

The second task, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thanh De suggested that it is necessary to convert this data into live data, that is, apply digital technology to turn it into charts, analyze, report data, etc. In particular, Mr. De emphasized the digitalization of preschool education, but facilities must conduct in-depth research to ensure the safety and confidentiality of children's information.

PROPOSAL FOR DIGITAL EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT

Ms. Luong Thi Hong Diep, Head of the Preschool Education Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, said that the city's preschool education sector has started applying information technology (IT) since the period 2011 - 2014. After the merger of provinces and cities, the city has more than 5,000 preschools, of which more than 3,000 are independent and private. The city organizes an annual preschool digital transformation connection festival for suppliers to share experiences and preschools to choose suitable solutions.

"Digitalization helps reduce labor intensity and time for paperwork for teachers and managers, helping the Department of Education and Training easily grasp data quickly and monitor the activities of the facility. However, we require suppliers to maintain security at level 3 and connect to the common data axis of the Ho Chi Minh City preschool education sector," said Ms. Diep.

In order for digitalization to truly be a solution to help reduce administrative pressure for staff and preschool teachers, Ms. Diep recommended that the Ministry of Education and Training research and conduct national education quality assessment on a digital platform to save time, effort and only need to do it directly once. At the same time, it is necessary to synchronize data, when there is a common data axis for the entire preschool system of the country with 34 provinces and cities, it will be convenient for management and grasping the general situation.

Ms. Diep also proposed that the Ministry of Education and Training promote the development of digital and transparent educational plans (according to Circular 09/2024/TT-BGDDT) so that parents can easily grasp all information about school activities. In particular, Ms. Diep recommended that the Ministry of Education and Training pay more attention to private independent preschools through policies and training for staff, so that they have more motivation to stick with the industry and comply with general regulations.

55.8% of preschool teachers said they equipped themselves with software for their work.

A survey conducted by the Ministry of Education and Training in 2024 in 63 provinces and cities (before the merger) with the participation of more than 12,000 preschools on the current status of IT application and digital transformation in preschools showed many remarkable data.

According to the draft report of the Ministry, regarding the content of digital transformation software and applications, 96.4% is related to children's information; 95.5% is related to information on monitoring children's health; 86.3% is about calculating food portions, nutritional content, and daily menus.

Regarding facilities and IT infrastructure, the most commonly used and popular devices are computers with internet connection (95% of preschools are equipped with them, equivalent to 11,577 facilities); audio-visual equipment (83%, equivalent to 10,123 facilities) and projection equipment (76%, equivalent to 9,262 facilities). However, only 30.1% of facilities have smart classrooms (equivalent to 3,667 facilities); AI application in supporting learning material development reached 51.3% (equivalent to 6,248 facilities).

Notably, software purchased by facilities accounted for the highest percentage (82.5%, equivalent to 10,052 units); software sponsored and supported from outside was 47% (5,730 units); 55.8% of preschool teachers (equivalent to 822 people) said they equipped themselves with software/applications to serve their work.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/giam-tai-ap-luc-bao-cao-cho-giao-vien-mam-non-cach-nao-185251203194233749.htm