Private kindergartens 'out of breath'

BRING HOME MONEY TO COMPENSATE FOR LOSS

On Tran Dinh Xu Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, CD Kindergarten has closed and returned its premises since the Covid-19 pandemic. TOV Kindergarten, another large private preschool located right on Tran Quoc Toan Street, District 3, has also closed and stopped operating for quite a while.

A private kindergarten on Tran Quoc Toan Street, District 3 closed.

As one of the first non-public kindergartens in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, Kim Dong Kindergarten (1A1 Thanh Da, Ward 27) has been in operation for 34 years. However, teacher Ho Thi Thuong, 72 years old, the owner of this kindergarten, had to exclaim to Thanh Nien reporter: "Since the Covid-19 pandemic, we have had difficulties and now it is getting more and more difficult. The number of students has decreased by 2/3, before we had 100 - 120 children but now the number is only over 40 children. Meanwhile, the school has more than ten teachers and staff".

"The monthly land rent is 23,690,000 VND. Since the pandemic, the economy has become more difficult. I have sent a document to the People's Committee of Binh Thanh District and the Binh Thanh District Public Service Company to present and hope to reduce the land rent. We appreciate every penny we can reduce, but we have not received any response. There are few children, so to have money to pay for the premises and pay the staff, I have to use my family's money to cover the losses. My children urge me, "Mom, stop working. You open a school and you keep using our family's money to cover the losses. You should quit." But I love my job so much that I cannot quit," said teacher Thuong.

THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN GOING TO PRIVATE KINDERGARTEN IS DECREASING

Teacher Thuong was the Principal of Mang Non 27 Kindergarten (a public school, now Kindergarten 27) for 10 years. She said that more than 30 years ago, the motivation that prompted her to open a private kindergarten was to create conditions for children who followed their parents to Ho Chi Minh City to work and did not have a household registration in Ho Chi Minh City to be able to go to kindergarten (previously, to study at a public kindergarten, one had to have a household registration or a temporary residence book KT3 in the city, but now this is not required - PV ).

Kim Dong Kindergarten (Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City), a private school established 34 years ago, has faced many difficulties since the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, Ms. Thuong feels that since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, more workers from Ho Chi Minh City have returned to their hometowns, their children have also returned with their parents, the birth rate has decreased, and it is easier for children to apply to public preschools, so the number of children going to private preschools is not as high as before. "We really hope that the government will support us, reduce monthly land rent, and share the difficulties at this time. Many teachers and nannies have been with the school for more than 20 years, now that the school is closed, they are old, and do not know where to find work...", Ms. Thuong said sadly.

Mr. TM, owner of a private kindergarten in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, said that enrollment this year is actually slower than previous years. By this time last year, all classes had been filled by the beginning of the new school year. However, the number of children registered is currently only about 80% compared to the same period last year.

According to Mr. TM, his school is still stable and the situation is better than some other large private kindergartens in the higher tuition segment. Some schools are operating at a low level, have late salaries, or have decided to close down due to slow enrollment, but still have to pay huge rent and staff salaries. The costs have increased a lot but the number of children has decreased, and tuition fees cannot increase much when parents are facing economic difficulties.

The number of preschool children this school year is much less than previous years.

Ms. Luong Thi Hong Diep, Head of the Preschool Education Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, said that currently, preschool education investment units in suburban districts and counties on the outskirts of the city such as Binh Tan District, Hoc Mon District, District 12, Binh Chanh District, etc. are still enrolling students stably because there is a high population density and a large number of children. Meanwhile, in central districts, especially District 1 and District 3, the population density is low and there are few children.

Notably, according to preliminary reports from the Department of Education and Training, Ms. Diep acknowledged that this year the number of children in preschools is lower than in previous school years, and many public schools also have fewer children, possibly due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic in 2020 and 2021, the number of children born in these years is lower. In each previous school year, the average total number of children in preschools in the city was about 350,000 children. However, at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, the new database shows more than 280,000 children.

What are the reasons why non-public preschools are struggling this year? Mr. TM pointed out a number of reasons, such as the slowing economy, affecting parents' income. New public schools are constantly opening, with modern and spacious facilities. In addition, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of new children born is lower than average, so the number of children enrolled in preschools this year has decreased.

According to Mr. TM, the segment of educational facilities with tuition fees of 8-10 million VND/child/month will face the most difficulties, because operating costs are high but the number of students enrolled is not as expected. According to his observation, the school chains that have to close some facilities are in the tuition fee segment of 8-10 million VND.

Ms. Nguyen Thuy Uyen Phuong, founder of Faros Education & Consulting, a consulting firm for educational organizations, acknowledged the difficult realities of many non-public preschools today. For example, in the past, preschools with several hundred children were very common, but now the majority have 60-80 children per facility. Some large schools have closed due to low enrollment.

Meanwhile, the investment to operate a kindergarten is huge. Therefore, when the number of children is low and the operating cost is high, the school/class owner "bears" it year after year, until "bears" no longer able to bear it and has to close it. (to be continued)

Preschool surplus classrooms

By the end of the 2023-2024 school year, according to the industry database at the website https://csdl.hcm.edu.vn/ , the number of kindergartens in Ho Chi Minh City is 1,248 (public schools are 474; private schools are 774), a decrease of 39 schools compared to the 2022-2023 school year.

The number of private independent groups and classes is 1,955, an increase of 219 independent groups and classes compared to the previous school year.

The number of groups of children (maximum 7 children) decreased by 44 groups of children compared to the 2022-2023 school year. However, the total number of children attending public and non-public preschools in the 2023-2024 school year increased by 8,174 compared to the previous school year.

The number of schools has decreased due to not meeting the conditions of Circular No. 13/2020/TT-BGDDT dated May 26, 2020 of the Ministry of Education and Training, so they have to switch to independent class groups to continue operating.

Last school year, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee held a conference on preparations to ensure facilities for the 2022-2025 period, ensuring progress in implementing the target of 300 classrooms/10,000 school-age population (from 3 to 18 years old) by 2025. Relevant departments, branches, Thu Duc City People's Committee and 21 districts discussed, thereby showing that preschools have surplus classrooms due to the large number of non-public preschool education units. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City has 16,608 preschool classrooms, 16,321 solid classrooms, accounting for 98.27%; 287 semi-solid classrooms, accounting for 1.73%. Every ward and commune has a public preschool that has been built, renovated, and is spacious and clean. By the end of 2023 - 2024, the whole city will have 265/1,248 kindergartens meeting national standards; rate 21.2%.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/truong-mam-non-tu-thuc-hut-hoi-185240923211306378.htm