Developing early childhood education in the new context

For early childhood education to develop and achieve high effectiveness, it requires synchronized development. In recent years, with the attention of the Party, the State, and the government at all levels, investments have been made in infrastructure and equipment to meet the needs of early childhood education development in the locality. However, for synchronized development, in addition to the investment in infrastructure and equipment, the training of management staff and teachers at the early childhood education level needs to be given top priority.

Children's learning time at Anh Nguyet Kindergarten, Ward 6, Ca Mau City.

In Ca Mau, there are currently 133 preschools, including 119 public and 14 private schools; 106 of them meet national standards. The total number of classes is 1,166, with 99.60% of 5-year-old children attending. The total number of administrators and teachers is 2,294. The percentage of teachers meeting or exceeding the standard qualifications is 96%.

Overall, policies and regulations regarding salaries, insurance, rewards, and other benefits for teachers are being given attention and are gradually improving. Every year, teachers are given the opportunity to fully participate in professional development courses organized by the Ministry of Education and Training.

However, according to Joint Circular No. 06/2015/TTLT between the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Home Affairs (Circular 06), as of December 2022, the province still lacked 127 teachers, and the number of teachers who did not meet the standards according to the 2019 Education Law was 81 out of 1,991. Therefore, it is necessary to upgrade the qualifications from intermediate to college level for preschool teachers.

Currently, the teacher-to-class ratio is only 1.7 teachers per class. Due to the shortage of teachers, the enrollment rate of children under 5 years old in preschool is still low compared to the regional and national averages. Mr. Le Hoang Du, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training, stated: "The shortage of preschool teachers has created immense pressure on teachers, especially in semi-boarding classes, where the workload is doubled compared to classes with two teachers. The prolonged shortage of teachers will significantly impact teachers' health; affect the quality of care, nurturing, and education of children; and, in particular, the safety of children remains a potential risk. Because there is only one teacher per class, parents are hesitant to send their children to school, resulting in a low enrollment rate for children under 5 years old. Therefore, finding solutions to attract preschool teachers, developing a highly qualified and skilled workforce, and ensuring educational innovation to meet the increasingly high demands of society is a necessary and urgent task in the current period."

Caring for and educating preschool children is quite a demanding job. (Illustrative photo, taken at Bup Sen Hong Preschool, Ward 8, Ca Mau City).

Cai Nuoc District currently has the highest shortage of preschool teachers in the province. In the 2014-2015 school year, the district had 11 preschools and kindergartens, 76 separate school branches, 169 classes, and 3,128 children, averaging 18.5 children per class; the total number of administrators, teachers, and staff was 225. In the 2020-2021 school year, the district held a recruitment exam for civil servants at all levels, adding 20 preschool teachers. However, there is still a shortage of more than 40 preschool teachers to meet regulations, requiring a maximum of 2.2 teachers per class for kindergartens with two sessions per day. This teacher shortage has significantly impacted the nurturing, care, and safety of children in preschool education facilities.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Phung, Head of the Education and Training Department of Cai Nuoc District, suggested: “To increase the ratio of preschool teachers to classes to meet regulations in the future, the education sector needs to implement a comprehensive set of solutions, including continuing the plan to reorganize the school network towards eliminating temporary classrooms; effectively reviewing and forecasting the scale of preschool education development in each stage to determine the need for teachers. At the same time, innovate the management of educational institutions, focusing on building a modern, safe, healthy, and friendly working environment; arrange working hours and rest periods for preschool teachers appropriately and in accordance with regulations. Implement policies to attract preschool teachers to work in the districts, avoiding the situation of hiring preschool teachers on contract while there are still many vacancies and positions available in schools.”

Based on the above situation, the Ca Mau education sector has put forward many solutions and directions regarding the training and development of the teaching staff in the coming time. Mr. Le Hoang Du, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training, shared: "To effectively implement Plan No. 06/KH-UBND dated January 19, 2021, on the roadmap for raising the standard qualifications and training management staff, preschool and general education teachers in Ca Mau province for the period 2021-2025, the sector has reformed communication work, management of training and professional development activities for teachers and management staff of preschool education institutions; arranged and assigned teachers in preschool education institutions appropriately, ensuring convenience for teachers to work and study at the same time; coordinated with local teacher training institutions; reformed training work, improved the quality of professional development for teachers and management staff of preschool education institutions; promoted the socialization of training and professional development for teachers and management staff. Implemented policies and regulations for teachers participating in standard qualification training, creating consensus among the teaching staff; and conducted evaluations of preschool teachers." according to GVMN professional standards. In addition, conduct inspections and monitoring of the training process, summarize and evaluate the quality of training annually."

The work of a preschool teacher is a special one, a process of using personality to educate personality. Caring for and educating preschool children is like building the foundation of a house. If preschool children develop a solid psychological and personality foundation from the early years of their lives, it will be a good condition for their comprehensive development later on. Achieving this cannot be done without the effort, intelligence, and personality of each preschool teacher.

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