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Sensational preschool children caring

Update: 08-10-2022 | 05:09:26

Last weekend, I had an appointment with my friend from the same hometown. During the whole session, I just saw her sitting and sighing to talk about her work as recently many teachers of preschools had caused public concern. While taking a sip of water, I confided to my sister that in the past, there was no shortage of professions, but why she chose a profession of hardship as a preschool teacher to which question she just smiled to compensate for her silence.

Only the passion for the job and love for children can help preschool teachers stay with their profession

A busy day

Bringing our doubts and thoughts after a conversation with our sisters from the same hometown and in order to fully understand a working day of preschool teachers, we were present at a number of public and private preschools in the province to take full snapshots of their daily work. What we could easily see was that the teachers were busy right from the first working day starting at about 6:00 am and ending at 17:00 or even 18:00 pm. All day, preschool teachers have to have hands and feet with tasks like picking up children, giving them exercise, breakfast, cleaning, teaching, then giving them lunch, helping them to bed, and then giving supper. Those tasks to be repeated over and over again seem simple, but in reality, only those who are working understand the hardship they encounter every day.

While hugging and comforting a crying child on her shoulder, she had to go to pick up another one who had just been brought by her parents, Ms. Tran Thi Hoa, a teacher at Tuoi Ngoc Kindergarten in Thu Dau Mot city, smiled and said: “This happens often to us, so we are used to it. Many children are not used to going to school, so every morning when they come to class, they cry loudly asking their parents not to hold back, so the teacher has to carry them on her shoulder all day, refusing to leave."

In a coloring class of the kindergarten class, Ms. Ngo Thi Huong, teacher of Hoa Binh children group in Dong Hoa ward of Di An city, had just settled the class for a few minutes, and the children ran around. Some children even enthusiastically broke crayons, tore up the picture the teacher had just handed out. However, Ms. Huong still smiled and said, the preschool children are only 2-3 years old, which is too young to require them to be aware of the rules. In fact, in order for the children to listen and be excited about the class, it is necessary to have experience. That experience must be accumulated gradually over time with the profession.

Lunch is also a stressful time when it comes to meals. Here, there are children who eat quickly and cleanly, but there are also children who sit forever to eat a few pieces. You have to come and feed them spoon by spoon. The story that the children poured rice and then vomited up almost every day. When the children sleep, it seems that it is the time when the teachers are released, but after eating lunch, they have to go to class to comfort the newly-schooled children who suddenly start crying in their sleep. Then there are the children who wet the bed, they have to clean, and change their clothes and wash the pillows. Most of the them would not get any proper lunch break in a day.

One day spent with the children, what we most easily noticed was the problem that the teachers often heard: "Auntie, this friend hit me", "Miss X. won't let me play", "Auntie, he destroyed my toys” and many other reasons for the children to go and tell the teacher. Immediately, a so-called court was set up to deal with their never-ending complaints. Many people think that the job of a preschool teacher is not so hard because it is only for the children to eat and then play with them. But, it was really new to know that everything is not that simple as one day they are both mothers, aunts, nannies, and actors with hundreds of unnamed jobs.

Surrounded by pressure

Recently, in the media, information has appeared on a number of cases of preschool teachers, nannies abusing children or having inappropriate actions of a teacher right in the classroom. These stories caused public outrage and harsh condemnation. It is the situation of just a few but can cause fury that puts genuine preschool teachers who love children under a lot of pressure.

Kindergarten teachers must take care of children from meals to sleep

Ms. Pham Thi Cam Huong, Principal of Hoa Hong 2 Kindergarten at Binh An ward in Di An city, confided: “The hardest job as a preschool teacher is at the beginning of the year, which is a time when it is very difficult to manage children, especially for teachers who are in charge of kindergarten and preschool classes. Children who have just come to school are still unfamiliar with being away from their parents, so they cry; some of them even cry for months. Then it only takes one minute of inattentiveness for children to scratch each other or fight. Only those who are really patient and really love children can keep calm in such situations. Completing school work is not enough, they also have to participate in movements and activities at all levels.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Le Thi Hoa, a teacher and nanny of Vietnamese Star Kindergarten in Thuan An city, who has nearly 10 years of experience in the profession, said that young children are often hyperactive. In class, they can make joke of or scratch each other. Sometimes it only takes a minute to not notice that the teacher cannot keep their temper. Some parents respect teachers, but some are uncomfortable with teachers. Some even did not say anything to the teacher, but directly called the principal to sue not giving the teacher a chance to explain.

Ms. Tran Thi Loan, a teacher who used to teach at a private preschool in Thuan An city, admitted that due to the great pressure of work, she had to quit her job to apply for job in a company. Recalling her time as a preschool teacher, Ms. Loan regretfully said: "After graduating, I couldn't find a job, so I applied to work as a private preschool teacher. I thought everything would be fine, but when I got to work, I realized how stressful it was. At home looking after a child is yet very tiring, but at school I had to take care of a class of 30 children. At the end of the day, no matter how tired you are, you still have to smile to return the children to their parents. Many times, parents reprimanded us for nothing at all, which at night on thinking back, you might burst in to tears. There are many things to do in the job, but in return, the income is extremely low, which is also the reason why many people give up the job as a preschool teacher."

Perhaps what every teacher always looks after when going to school is to ensure the safety of the children. From the time they pick up children to teach, eat, drink, play, or sleep, they all have to monitor and handle them promptly and to satisfy their parents. These pressures are on them all the time before stepping out of the school gate when they can breathe a sigh of relief. Each profession has its own sufferings, but for the profession of preschool teachers, they must be under the scrutiny of many people. Perhaps as the teachers have confided that only passion of the job and the love of children will help them stay with the profession.

Reported by Hong Phuong – Translated by Vi Bao

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