Left in the lurch
12-MAR-2008 Intellasia | Thanhniennews
Mar 12, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM
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Frustration is mounting for northern families after hundreds of substandard daycare centres were suddenly shut down without a plan for alternative childcare.
A recent decision in northern province of Ha Tay to shut down substandard private kindergartens and daycare centres has left hundreds of parents scrambling to find childcare.
Frustration is mounting and families say they are in desperate need of qualified individuals to care for their kids while they work.
Provincial administration has now closed a total of 334 private centres after several facilities throughout the country were exposed as being overcrowded and understaffed.
On average, the private centres were found to have just 20 square metres of space for dozens of children and adult supervision was often inadequate.
"Ha Tay is facing a shortage of about 1,000 nursery teachers," said Quach Thi Mai Dung, vice director of the kindergarten education division at the Ha Tay Province's Department of Education and Training.
Many centres were also found to be employing under-trained and abusive staff.
The recent death of a toddler at a private centre in HCM City sparked public outrage and led to tighter management policies in the private daycare sector.
The rapid shut-downs in the north however, have left over 1,000 preschoolers without a place to go while their parents are away at work.
Many families are turning to friends and relatives to help out while they look for new public schools to send their kids to, but are finding it difficult with the public centres already bursting at the seams.
Local officials said the province will invest 70 billion dong (US$4.4 million) to establish and upgrade more schools and care centres in the future, and Ha Dong Town is constructing a facility that can accommodate up to 600 kids.
The new large-scale centre is expected to be operational by the start of the next academic year.
Some experts have said this will not necessarily solve the problem of unstandardised daycares and preschools.
One of the main reasons parents turn to private facilities for childcare is because they can offer longer, more flexible hours at a cheaper cost.
Some parents even pay staff to pick up and drop off their children at home.
Local authorities say another problem is the difficultly in uncovering all private facilities as many operate illegally out of peoples' homes in remote residential areas.
Ha Tay is the first province to close down such a large number of private childcare facilities in such a short time.
Recent high-profile cases of child abuse
19-month-old Do Ngoc Bao Tran died after being asphyxiated by her preschool teacher in HCM City's Phu Nhuan District in December 2007.
Tran's mouth had been taped shut by the teacher to silence her crying.
The teacher was arrested and faces up to 12 years in jail if found guilty.
Quang Thi Kim Hoa, the owner of a private daycare centre in the southern town of Bien Hoa, was arrested after images of her hitting children with rulers and spoons were broadcast nationwide in mid-January.
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