Viet Nam looks to universal preschool education for three-to five-year-old children

Addressing a meeting of the Committee on renewal and development of early childhood education by 2030, a vision towards 2045 which took place in Ha Noi on April 4, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh reiterated that education and training is the top national policy of the Party and State.

He quoted President Ho Chi Minh’s teaching: “For the sake of ten years, we must plant trees, for the sake of 100 years, we must cultivate people.”

The Prime Minister emphasized that investment in education is investment in national development especially from the first few years of life.

The Government chief tasked relevant ministries to put foward policies to mobilise all resources for early childhood education, especially policies regarding taxation, land access, credit and human resources, as well as enhancing the quality of human resources, to serve early childhood education.

He underlined that the renewal of education and training must aim to comprehensively train and develop Vietnamese people, in line with the development trends of the era, adapting to the country's conditions and circumstances.

To fulfill the ambition of universal preschool education for three-to five-year-old children, it is necessary to innovate resource mobilization in which public-private cooperation plays an important role in developing education and training.

He tasked the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) to collect the comments of the Committee’s members; continue to improve reports and submit them to competent authorities to issue appropriate documents on the renewal and development of early childhood education.

Every year, over 5.3 million preschool children are nurtured, cared for and educated in over 15,000 preschools and nearly 16,000 independent facilities nationwide. Nationally, 56.9 per cent of preschools meet national standards.

Viet Nam successfully achieved the goal of universalising early childhood education for 5-year-old kindergarten children. The success has contributed to promoting the development of early childhood education and meeting the needs of nurturing, caring for and educating children./.