Children at a pre-school class in HCM City. Photo cand.com.vn

HCM CITY —  Pre-schools in HCM City have found themselves in a tight corner, with many owners putting their schools up for sale.

Burdened with house rent for months, an owner of a private preschool that opened in 2019 in District 12 has had no choice but to put her school on sale. 

The school with around 100 children has had to close and reopen several times due to social distancing orders since the first wave of the pandemic last year, leaving the owner with no funds to pay for rent or salaries of teachers and staff.

The city ordered closure of all schools on May 10 to curb the spread of the pandemic. It is uncertain when schools will reopen.

An owner of seven preschools in the city is also struggling to find funds to meet expenses and restructure her operations to avoid putting her schools up for sale.

The school owner pays at least VNĐ200 million (US$8,700) for monthly house rent, financial support for teachers and staffers with unpaid leave, and social insurance payments.

A Facebook page under the name of Ngọc Linh said her school and school equipment was up for sale due to the COVID-19 crisis. The school was built in 2019 at a cost of more than VNĐ1.5 billion (US$65,500).

She said it was a heartbreaking decision for her to make, but she was unable to cover expenses during school closure.

Lương Thị Hồng Điệp, head of the Department of Education and Training’s Education Office, said the city would ensure that all children of pre-school age attend classes.

Last school year, the city had around 1,300 pre-schools, including 400 public schools, and 1,800 private child care providers.

As many as 51 private preschools stopped operations due to the pandemic last year.

More than 23,464 teachers and staff at 879 pre-school education establishments were affected by the pandemic last year.

Thousands of teachers, caregivers and staff at private pre-school education establishments affected by the pandemic in the city will receive a payment of VNĐ2 million (US$87) per person from the second financial relief package.

Most of them are in financial hardship due to school closures amid the pandemic. —VNS