Teachers at Hương Nắng Hồng Kindergartens in Thủ Đức City welcome children back after a long gap on Monday. Photo giaoducthoidai.vn

HCM CITY — HCM City pre-school teachers welcomed children back to school on Monday, ending months of virtual learning and furloughs due to school closures.

Phạm Thu Thảo, 27, a teacher at Bé Ngoan Kindergarten in District 1, said she felt anxious to see the children return to school.

Children were taught hand hygiene skills and measures to prevent COVID-19 on the opening day.

Cao Nữ Hoàng Oanh, 24, a teacher at Hương Nắng Hồng Kindergarten in Thủ Đức City, returned to work after working temporarily at a factory with a daily wage of VNĐ300,000 (US$13).

"Although I earned much more than as a pre-school teacher, I always hoped schools would reopen soon so I could return to my favourite job," she said.

Many private pre-schools have been hiring teachers and childcare workers on Facebook and other social media channels since many teachers had quit in the last nine months after being forced to go on unpaid leave.

Dương Văn Dân, head of the District 8 education and training office, said teachers at public pre-schools were paid during the school closure but not teachers at private ones.

Many teachers opted for other jobs, and many schools faced a shortage now after reopening, he said.

Trịnh Duy Trọng, head of the Ideological Politics Office under the city Department of Education and Training, said many teachers and childcare workers at private pre-schools who returned to their hometowns had not returned yet.

Schools were urging teachers to return to work and recruiting new ones, he told a meeting on Monday.

The department has instructed district education offices to distribute available teachers and childcare workers between various schools to partly mitigate the shortage. —VNS