VietNamNet Bridge – Some 120 owners of household-run nursery classes from 16/24 wards in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province, came to make declarations about the classes’ operation just within two hours, since the city’s Education and Training Sub-department opens for receiving declarations.

Making declarations

These household-run nursery classes had never been registered their business operation before. Only after a serious child maltreatment in the city was discovered and the city’s authorities began taking inspection tours to the classes, threatening to shut down all the classes that cannot meet the requirements, the classes’ owners try to make business registration.

The Bien Hoa Education and Training Sub-department, which receive the registrations for nursery classes’ operation, was very crowded on January 26, the first day when the sub-department opened to received registrations

Tran Thi Trinh, living at No 27/22D in Tam Hiep ward, said that her class has been operating for some years, but she has never been asked to make registration to the local authorities. Only several days ago, she was told to make registration and she followed the instruction.

Tran Thi Kim Lien, who lives in Tan Van ward, said that her nursery class became operational since March 2007. She and her two daughters are taking care for five children, aged from one to three, the tuition is VND400,000/month.

When asked about her training, Mrs Lien honestly said that she is doing what she feels is right, while she has not followed any babysitting training course.

In fact, nearly all the nursery classes’ owners admitted that they have never followed any training course. It’s clear that in Dong Nai, everyone can become babysitter, and this is the cause of a lot of pitiful cases, where children were maltreated or died due to the careless activities of babysitters.

Right after the pitiful cases occurred, local authorities have been heavily criticized for the mismanagement over the household-run nursery classes. However, responding to the criticism, an official from the Bien Hoa Education and Training Sub-department said that the sub-department is not well staffed enough to control everything. Meanwhile, household-run classes’ owners said that they had never been asked to make registration.

Nguyen Thi Lu Xi, the owner of a nursery school, which now takes care for 30 children, said that she does not know if her school’s operation violates the laws, because she had not received any request from the local authorities.

According to the Bien Hoa Education and Training Sub-department, it will take inspection tours to the registered household-run classes on January 30 and 31. The classes, which can meet the requirements on teachers and material facilities will be licensed, while the ones which cannot meet the requirements will have to shut down.

Analysts said that nearly all the nursery classes cannot meet the requirements to run private owned nursery classes, because many of the babysitters here are old and weak, who need to take extra works to earn their living.

It is too easy to shut down understandardised nursery schools, but it will be very difficult to arrange other nursery schools for children. No state management agency can answer the question who will babysit their children.

“The question must be answered by the state, while what we can do now is obeying the set regulations,” an official from Bien Hoa Education and Training Department said.

According to the department, only 20% of the children in the city are going to state owned nursery schools. 

In fact, the mismanagement over private run nursery schools is the problem of all cities and provinces.  State management agencies have not paying appropriate attention to the development of nursery schools for the children aged 6-24 months old, while the demand for babysitting is very big.

The Hanoi Education and Training Department has released a report, which showed that there are 237 unlicensed operational private run classes. Meanwhile, the HCM City Education and Training Department is now worried that the understandardised nursery classes is booming.

(Source: VnMedia)