“A Mammoth Investment: Over $4.9 Billion for Early Childhood Education in Vietnam, 2026-2030”

Only 84.8% of New Classroom Buildings are Permanent Structures

Continuing the agenda of the session, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son, under the authorization of the Prime Minister, presented the draft resolution of the National Assembly on universal preschool education for children aged 3 to 5.

According to the Minister, every year, over 5.1 million preschool children are cared for, nurtured, and educated in 15,256 preschool institutions and 17,444 independent early childhood education facilities. The enrollment rate for nursery children reaches 34.6%, while it’s 93.6% for kindergarteners.

However, the Minister pointed out that early childhood education still faces significant challenges. A large number of 3- to 4-year-old kindergarteners (mainly from disadvantaged areas or vulnerable backgrounds) lack access to preschool education, creating inequality in educational opportunities.

The Minister informed that nearly 300,000 kindergarten-aged children are not attending school, and they are concentrated in difficult and particularly difficult areas, highland, mountainous, border, and island areas, and places with a large number of ethnic minority people.

Furthermore, the Minister stated that the conditions for ensuring the quality of preschool education are still inadequate. Specifically, only 84.8% of classrooms are permanent structures, while 0.5% are temporary, and almost 3,000 are borrowed or shared spaces.

For public preschools, the rate of permanent classrooms stands at 76.6%, and approximately 2,500 borrowed classrooms are arranged by local authorities. The teacher-to-class ratio is 1.87 teachers per class.

Given this situation, the Minister affirmed that issuing this resolution will contribute to social security and ensure that preschool-aged children from all regions of the country have access to early childhood education.

The draft resolution sets the goal of achieving universal preschool education for 3- to 5-year-old children nationwide by 2030.

The government will ensure financial resources to achieve this goal. This includes supplementary funding from the state budget, in addition to the 20% of total education and training expenditure stipulated in the Law on Education. Other sources include socialized education capital and other legally mobilized capital.

The total estimated cost until 2030 is VND 116,314.1 billion

Reviewing this content, Mr. Nguyen Dac Vinh, Chairman of the Culture and Society Committee, stated that achieving universal preschool education for 3- to 5-year-old children by 2030 would require substantial financial and human resources.

Specifically, for infrastructure and equipment investments, the total estimated budget for the 2026-2030 period is VND 116,314.1 billion. The drafting agency needs to determine the roadmap for this period.

Some opinions also suggested that the drafting agency should present its preferred option for the competent authority’s consideration and decision.

Regarding the teaching staff, the Committee requested the drafting agency to determine the exact number of preschool teachers needed for the 2026-2030 period and report it to the competent authority for consideration and decision.

There were also recommendations to promote the socialization of education to reduce the pressure on the state budget in terms of both human resources and infrastructure.

Concerning the resolution’s implementation budget, the Committee requested the drafting agency to carefully evaluate the financial sources to ensure feasibility and compatibility with the state budget balance, especially in challenging localities.

“It is proposed that the Government consider arranging the budget for implementing the Resolution from the central budget, supporting an increase in addition to the total state budget expenditure for education and training as prescribed in the Law on Education,” said Mr. Nguyen Dac Vinh.

The National Assembly deputies will discuss this content at the group discussion session on the afternoon of May 22nd.