Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thi Nghia delivered aspeech on Vietnam’s pre-school education development policy at the 4thWorld Congress and 14th International Meeting on Early Education andPreschool held in Monterrey City, Mexico.

The speech focused onthe efforts of the Vietnamese Government to promote national pre-schooleducation and recent achievements in the field. It also highlightedfuture challenges and strategies to push the sector further.

Vietnamwas the first Asian nation and the second in the world to sign theInternational Convention on the Rights of the Child, Nghia said, addingthat the Vietnamese Government continuously prioritises education andhuman resources development.

According to the DeputyMinister, in recent years Vietnam has paid particular attention todeveloping a network of pre-schools in each locality throughout thecountry and meeting the increasing demands of families. There are13,700 kindergartens in Vietnam, with 88 percent being public schools.

However,the country is also facing a number of difficulties, such as shortagesof schoolrooms, high-quality teachers and funds for the sector, whichrequire joint efforts from the government, all sectors of the economyand the public.

During her speech, Nghia highlighted the need tostep up communication efforts to increase the public’s awareness ofthe role of pre-school education, and to focus on developinginfrastructure, ensuring sufficient funding, improving relevantpolicies, training teachers and revising training programmes in aneffort to make the sector stronger in the future.

Taking place from October 16-18, the meetings brought together more than 1,500 delegates from 31 countries.

Onthe sidelines of the events, the Vietnamese official held meetings withseveral international delegations to share Vietnam’s experience indeveloping the sector. She was received by the General Secretary ofMexico’s Labour Party Alberto Anaya Gutierrez.-VNA