'Hot' talk about raising preschool teacher standards

I ALSO HAVE DIFFICULTIES BUT I NEED TO OVERCOME THEM

Article 72 of the 2019 Education Law stipulates that the standard training level of teachers is "having a college degree or higher for preschool teachers". The roadmap for upgrading preschool teacher standards in Decree No. 71/2020 of the Government stipulates that by December 31, 2030, 100% of preschool teachers must meet training standards.

How to quickly improve the standards of the remaining 5,000 preschool teachers? This story was of interest to delegates at the workshop "Current situation and solutions to attract preschool teachers in Ho Chi Minh City" organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training last week.

From the perspective of management staff, Ms. Duong Thi Kim Anh, Principal of Hai Yen Kindergarten (private school), Tan Phu District, said that she had to find ways to motivate her teachers to go to school, even had to "threaten" that "if they don't go to school, they can only be nannies, the highest salary is only 6.5 million a month". Many teachers are worried that if they go to school during office hours, no one will "shoulder" the work at school. But so far, the good news is that out of 12 teachers of the school, 7 have met the standards, 1 is waiting to get a college degree, and the remaining 4 are applying to go to university to improve their standards.

Independent preschool teachers in the city-level talented teacher competition

Ms. Phan Thi Lien, an expert from the Department of Continuing Education, Saigon University (a unit assigned by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to train and upgrade the standards for preschool, primary and secondary school teachers), said that the school has recently conducted the first course to upgrade the standards for preschool and secondary school teachers. Upgrading from intermediate to university level requires a longer study time than upgrading from intermediate to college level. However, this is also an advantage for preschool teachers to be properly trained. Teachers are paid by the city budget to study, so we hope that teachers will overcome difficulties to complete the study program.

"The time for upgrading classes is on weekday evenings, from Monday to Friday and Sunday, with no classes on Saturdays so teachers can take care of their own work. One difficulty is that many teachers have been trained for a long time, many subjects require updating their knowledge from the beginning, or many teachers cannot find their transcripts for a long time to be exempted from the subject, so they have to retake the course," Ms. Lien said.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, Deputy Head of the Personnel Organization Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, assessed that many localities and preschool education facilities have effective solutions, arranging for teachers to attend training courses to upgrade their qualifications. Mr. Hung emphasized that upgrading standards is a process and has a deadline, each person has their own difficulties, but they need to overcome it because this is a mandatory requirement according to the 2019 Education Law.

The standard training level for teachers is "having a college degree or higher for preschool teachers".

TEACHERS ARE NOT QUALIFIED, SCHOOL CANNOT OPERATE

Ms. Le Thuy My Chau, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, emphasized the responsibilities of three parties: teachers, workers; kindergarten management staff, investors and the responsibilities of the Department of Education and Training at district, county and Thu Duc City levels in the overall picture of preschool education development in the city.

Ms. Chau said that according to the draft Law on Teachers, teachers in public or private schools are all teachers. Teachers - workers in general - need to have the responsibility to work with a spirit of dedication.

In addition, Ms. Chau mentioned the responsibilities of investors in the field of preschool education and school-level management staff. As leaders, teachers need to always worry about whether they have informed employees in a timely manner and implemented policies fully and correctly for teachers.

Notably, Ms. Chau emphasized the fact that there are still 5,211 teachers (out of a total of 26,055 preschool teachers in the city) who have not met the standards. This requires school owners and managers to think and find ways to resolve the problem. "Preschool teachers must meet the standards, otherwise by 2030 they will not be qualified to work; schools, especially non-public schools, private and independent classes, will not be able to operate," Ms. Chau said.

The third responsibility, Ms. Chau mentioned to the management agencies at the Department of Education and Training and Department level, how to promptly listen to all the thoughts and aspirations of educational institutions and teaching staff, review documents and policies to see if they are suitable to reality, and how to attract more talented people to preschool education.

"HCMC is a member of UNESCO's Global Learning Cities Network, learning is lifelong. The responsibility of preschool education is to review the public and non-public teaching staff, and there needs to be a specific roadmap to upgrade standards, otherwise by 2030 it will be in disarray and unable to operate. I hope Saigon University will pay attention to the time of organizing the standard upgrading course, and encourage teachers to complete the program so they can work with peace of mind, stabilize their lives, and stick with their profession," Ms. Chau shared.

Teacher and students of an independent preschool class in Ho Chi Minh City

U.60 SCHOOL OWNER GOES TO STUDY TO UPGRADE STANDARDS ON THE WEEKEND

Among the preschool teachers, school owners, and owners of independent and private preschool groups who are studying to upgrade their qualifications, Ms. Nguyen Thi Linh, owner of a preschool class in Tan Phu District (HCMC), is among the group of teachers who, despite her age, are no less diligent and determined than anyone else. Having graduated from a junior college of preschool education, Ms. Linh has been studying to upgrade her qualifications on both Saturdays and Sundays every week since 2022, and is expected to graduate in 2024. At the time Ms. Linh registered to study, there was no preschool teacher upgrading course organized by Saigon University, but she was determined to study to get a university degree and meet training standards to confidently manage her preschool class. She paid out of her own pocket to register for the course, paying more than 6 million VND per semester.

"Working all week and going to school on the weekend is very hard. The specialized subjects are easy because they are my strengths, but IT and English are quite difficult for me. I study day and night, even during mealtimes I take out my books to review, sometimes at 1am I still sit and practice reading and pronunciation," Ms. Linh said.

Ms. Linh said that in her university class, there were many people who were also owners of private schools and kindergartens. Everyone encouraged each other to finish their studies so that they could do better in their jobs and especially after 2030, they could still manage their own kindergartens without having to hire more staff.

From the perspective of managers, owners of independent and private kindergartens said that attending school to improve their standards according to the training standards of the 2019 Education Law is absolutely necessary. At NL Kindergarten (Binh Thanh District), Mr. NM, the school owner, said that his unit has an additional bonus to encourage teachers to attend school to improve their standards.

The ratio of teachers in non-public preschools is 1.8 teachers/class.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training said that in addition to the general policies and regimes for preschool teachers nationwide, Ho Chi Minh City also has specific policies for preschool teachers.

Ms. Luong Thi Hong Diep, Head of the Preschool Education Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, acknowledged that thanks to the support policies, the team of newly graduated teachers feel secure in their work; the professional qualifications and skills of managers, teachers and staff are regularly trained and fostered; teachers actively apply information technology and approach many advanced methods to implement the Preschool Education Program, the quality of child care and education is improved. Up to now, teachers at public preschools basically meet the regulation of 2 teachers/class, however, non-public preschools only achieve over 1.8 teachers/class.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nong-chuyen-nang-chuan-giao-vien-mam-non-185241014171746597.htm