Binh Phuoc fulfills universal education for five-year-olds

Statistics showed that 98.38 percent of preschoolers attended school in the period, 3.38 percent higher than the required standard. Meanwhile, 99 percent of five-year-olds completed preschool education, 14 percent above requirements.

All communes and wards across 11 districts and towns of Binh Phuoc, which previously lacked schools and teachers, now have educational institutions and pre-schools. 

Representatives from the ministry suggested local authorities improve the quality of the work and invest in building infrastructure facilities for pre-school education, encourage private involvement and revamp management in the field.

In recent years, the provincial Steering Committee for illiteracy elimination and education universalisation has focused on children at the age of five, especially those from low-income households, disadvantaged, remote and border areas and those from ethnic minorities. 

However, Vice Chairman of the peovincial People’s Committee Nguyen Tien Dung pointed out difficulties facing the locality in generalising education for five-year-olds including overloading at preschools and in encouraging children to attend school. 

He said relevant sectors, especially the education and training sector, need to raise public awareness of the scheme, make it easy for enterprises to invest in private preschool development and improve the quality of teachers.

The project on universalising pre-school education for five-year-old children was approved in 2010. 

The project set the goal of having the majority of five-year-old children throughout the country attend two classes a day for a full school-year in order to be fully prepared for the first grade.