Maintaining the foundation, opening the way for innovation in preschool education

Over the past decade, a series of policies, legal documents and innovations in State management have created a strong driving force for this level of education to transform, gradually expand its scale and improve its quality. Especially recently, the birth of the Law on Teachers, the Resolution on innovation of the Preschool Education Program, the Resolution on universalizing preschool education for 3-5 year old preschool children, demonstrates the special concern of the Party and State for ensuring the comprehensive development and happiness of children.

The strong movement of preschool education in recent times is clearly shown in the expansion scale and investment in a more synchronous school network. The public system is arranged to suit the conditions of each locality; while the non-public sector is also given favorable conditions to develop, meeting the increasingly diverse needs of parents.

The conditions for ensuring quality, from facilities to staff and educational environment, are gradually being improved according to standards. The content, programs and methods of preschool education have also been innovated, contributing to improving the quality of care, nurturing and education of children.

However, preschool education still faces many barriers, especially in disadvantaged areas, areas with large ethnic minority populations, or industrial zones with a concentration of low-income workers. Staff and facilities are still major bottlenecks that need to be resolved.

The shortage of preschool teachers has not been completely resolved, especially in disadvantaged areas; recruitment is slow, with problems related to staffing quotas, while the remuneration is not attractive enough. Facilities, equipment, and toys are not uniform and do not meet the requirements for innovation in educational content and methods. Although the number of temporary classrooms and shared classrooms has decreased, they still exist in many places...

Entering a new phase, the world's profound changes - especially the explosion of digital technology and artificial intelligence - are reshaping education, requiring each country to redefine its vision and new strategy for the education system.

With preschool education, this is even more urgent, because today's children are future citizens of the digital age. 4 breakthroughs need to be implemented synchronously and drastically: Breakthrough in perfecting institutions and policies; breakthrough in the quality of implementing the preschool education program; breakthrough in developing the preschool education team; breakthrough in investing in facilities to ensure the quality of equitable, inclusive, and sustainable preschool education.

At the same time, the shift from “administrative management” to “quality management” will help increase transparency, accountability and efficiency throughout the system. This is the foundation to ensure that preschool education not only grows in scale, but also truly improves in quality, towards the goal of equity and sustainability.

Developing preschool education in the new era is not only a strategic requirement of the education sector, but also a humanitarian task, linked to the future of the country. In order for children, the future owners of the country, to grow up in the best learning environment, it requires strong and synchronous participation of all levels, sectors and the whole society. Taking proper care of the early foundation is an investment in the future sustainable development of the country.

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