Parents are struggling to find a place to send their children.

REVERSED SCHEDULE

At the end of May, when their children in grades 1 and 2 were on summer vacation, it was also the time when Nguyen Thi Cam Tien and Ngo Van Phuoc (living in Ba Diem commune, Hoc Mon district, Ho Chi Minh City) redistributed the tasks of each member. Tien's job is full-time, from 7am to 7pm, with only one Sunday off a month. Her husband can handle his work remotely and does not have to go to the office regularly. Therefore, for the past 3 weeks, Phuoc has been working at the office and also being a nanny and "teacher" at home.

The children are on summer vacation, the house is always bustling like this, making parents dizzy between work and childcare.

Only by looking after children all day can we understand the hardships of teachers. Looking after a preschool child from morning to night is exhausting. Just running after the child, feeding the child, and soothing the crying child is exhausting. Preschool teachers work from 6:30 am to 5 pm, looking after 20-30 children is too much.

Ms. Cam Van (pharmacist, working in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City)

"It's fun but it's a headache. I'm looking forward to the day my children can go to summer school soon," said Mr. Phuoc. "Normally, I just take my children to school and then I can go home to do some work and cook. But now the children are at home all the time, making a fuss all day, I work and cook until I sweat. After playing with toys and reading books for a while, they turn to watch TV, iPad, and phone. I have to worry about work so I have to let them watch for a while. The children are hyperactive, sometimes they play with each other and cry, fight, and snatch toys from each other, and I have to step in and judge," Mr. Phuoc shared.

When meeting clients in person, Mr. Phuoc has to take his children along. When customers see a father with two children, they immediately understand the summer story. When the office has a meeting, Mr. Phuoc also has to take his two children there, find a corner in the office for them to sit and read books, color, and wait for their father to finish the meeting before taking them home. "Everyone with young children has rarely experienced the situation of having to bring their children to work like this," the 8X father expressed.

In the midst of having to "be good at public affairs and take care of the housework", when he saw a teacher opening a summer review class for children three times a week, Mr. Phuoc and his wife immediately signed up. On Saturdays and Sundays, he also registered his children for extra English classes, and arranged three more sessions each week to take them to roller skating, drawing, and martial arts classes. Although he had to "split" his time during the day, every few hours he had to take his motorbike to pick up his children from a class and spend at least 5 million VND a month on these classes, the couple had to "bite the bullet". Mr. Phuoc hopes that when hyperactive children have an environment to study and play, they will reduce the time they spend using phones and watching TV, which is harmful to their eyes and causes the risk of obesity, and at the same time, parents will have more time to focus on work.

Only when I see my children do I understand the teacher's feelings.

Ms. Cam Van (42 years old, a pharmacist working at a pharmacy in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City) is counting down the days until June 17 - when her child's kindergarten in District 5 will start summer care.

The older child is in 4th grade, the youngest is only 4 years old. For the past 3 weeks, Cam Van and her husband have been taking turns looking after their children. Her husband works from home and takes care of the children from morning until 12:30 noon. Then, when it is time for him to work in the afternoon, he needs to move, he takes the two children to his wife's pharmacy, she sells goods and takes care of the children until late afternoon.

"Before the summer break, my husband and I went to the bookstore to buy more toys, preparing for the weeks when the children are home. But no matter what kind of toys they have, the children get bored after a while, they need someone to play with, if adults don't coax and play with them, they will abuse the TV and phone. The youngest child is very naughty, someone has to run after him and pay attention to him constantly. Sometimes when the pharmacy is crowded, we have to let the children watch TV so we can sell products," Cam Van sighed.

Parents come up with all sorts of ways to help their children play while they're at home during the summer.

It is not until mid-June that public kindergartens (and some private kindergartens) will be able to take children again. To reduce the stress of having to work and take care of children during the summer, Ms. Cam Van registered her youngest child for school right away. At the same time, she registered her older daughter for additional math, Vietnamese, English review classes, and extra evening talent classes so that her child has space to play and meet friends.

"Only by looking after children all day can we understand the hardships of teachers. Looking after a preschool child from morning to night makes me feel exhausted. Just running after the child, feeding the child, and soothing the crying child is tiring. Preschool teachers work from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Looking after 20-30 children is too hard," said Ms. Cam Van.

COMPANY LIKE KINDERGARTEN

Ms. NT (living in Thao Dien Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) works as an interior designer at a company in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City. Since her two children went on summer vacation (the older son is in first grade, the youngest is in 3-year-old kindergarten), Ms. NT has had to ask her boss to go to work 30 minutes late every day. "The children's grandparents live in District 1, so every morning my husband and I wake up the children, prepare breakfast, prepare things to take the children to their grandparents' house before going to work," Ms. NT said.

Every afternoon, Ms. NT's husband comes home first, goes to her grandparents' house to pick up the older child. She finishes work later, stops by her grandparents' house to pick up the youngest child, takes care of the children's meals, baths, and then rushes around with housework. "The hardest part is when one of the two children is sick, the grandparents can't take care of both, so I have to bring one child to the company, to look after the child and worry about work. Luckily, my boss is Vietnamese, also a parent of several children, understands the situation of having no one to look after the children during the summer vacation, so he creates conditions for employees to bring their children to the company - when they can't send them anywhere else," Ms. NT said.

During the summer holidays, Ms. NT's company is as crowded with children as a kindergarten. Some employees have to send their children to the countryside, staying with their grandparents for 2 months of the summer because they can't take care of them. There is a mother who, unable to find a summer class for her children, has to bring both children to the company. "I have registered my older child for review classes at the teacher's house, asked my grandfather to pick me up at noon, and registered my younger child for summer classes at a kindergarten. There are only a few days left until these classes officially open. Both husband and wife encourage each other, 'let's keep going'...", Ms. NT confided.

Many options to send students to summer

In Ho Chi Minh City, from June 17 to August 16, many public kindergartens will begin summer activities. The organization of these summer activities depends on the needs of parents and caregivers, the voluntary registration of teachers, and the physical conditions of the unit. Schools that organize summer activities will have specific notices for parents to register to participate.

Many non-public primary schools have announced various summer activity plans for students. Meanwhile, non-public preschools in Ho Chi Minh City usually only have a "summer break" for a few days, then continue to operate throughout the summer, ensuring 100% of children are boarders. Parents can refer to the public information on the Ho Chi Minh City education sector's electronic information portal at https://pgdmamnon.hcm.edu.vn/congkhaicosogiaoduc to know if the preschool operates properly and has all the legal documents.

Some public primary schools in Ho Chi Minh City also organize summer boarding with a variety of useful activities. For example, Hoa Binh Primary School (District 1) has announced a plan to enroll students in summer boarding classes (organized for 6 weeks, with a variety of subjects in physical education, sports, arts, creativity, with fees, from June 17).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mua-he-tre-nghi-hoc-phu-huynh-quay-cuong-tim-cho-gui-con-18524061319321972.htm