Warm home for preschool children of IP workers
Nearly 8 years since its establishment, the OneSky Preschool Care and Education Centre – the first preschool for children of workers living and working in the Hoa Khanh Industrial Park, Lien Chieu District, Da Nang has achieved many successes.
Vice Chairwoman of the Da Nang People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Anh Thi (5th, left) presenting gifts to children at OneSky Preschool Care and Education Centre
In an excited and joyful mood, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Yen hailing from Que Son, Quang Nam Province is temporarily residing in Hoa Khanh Bac Ward, Lien Chieu District.
She shared “I worked as a worker at a plastic factory in Da Nang for several years, then got married and rented a house in Thanh Vinh area to live. In the early days, life was very difficult, partly because of low wages and no place to take care of my children”.
“Hiring someone to look after and care for my children was even more impossible because the price was too high. Luckily for us, the OneSky Preschool Care and Education Centre was opened. Since we sent our children here, we have been very secure because the teachers have taken good care of them. I am very pleased to see that the rooms and beds for the children are very sturdy and safe” Mrs. Yen added.
Similar to Mrs. Ngoc Yen, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hong, a worker at the Daiwa Vietnam Co., Ltd. under the Daiwa Seiko Inc. Group whose daughter is nearly 3 years old, said “The opening of the centre has facilitated us to work with peace of mind because we are guaranteed to pick up and drop off our children during regular working hours or overtime. Monthly tuition fee is only VND 800,000. Without this centre of love, workers like us certainly have a hard time sending and raising our children”.
Mrs. Vo Thi Hien, Country Director of OneSky Vietnam, said that the OneSky Da Nang Preschool Care and Education Centre was established in 2017 with the purpose to serve the children of poor workers working in industrial parks with non-profit purposes. Every year, it provides a caring and educational environment for more than 260 children from 6 months to 6 years old, who are children of poor workers in industrial parks.
“Over the past 8 years, the centre has enrolled nearly 950 children with special circumstances. Of which, 95 children who are orphans or have a parent with a serious illness and have a certificate of poverty from the local government are exempted from 25% to 100% of the contribution level”, Mrs. Hien shared.
Aside from the airy, clean space, the classrooms are beautifully decorated and furnished, with full equipment and teaching aids. The teachers are always smiling, excited and very friendly.
The centre not only has a profound humanistic meaning when it is dedicated to the children of workers living and working in the Hoa Khanh Industrial Park, but also demonstrates the care and responsibility of the local government and social organisations for children in disadvantaged areas.
In these days leading up to Tet Festival 2025, the centre’s teachers are busy decorating, rehearsing arts performances, and organising games to create a warm and joyful atmosphere for the children as well as bringing connection and sharing with their parents.
Mr. Pham Cong Lam, whose child is in class 6 of Kindergarten, said that he and his wife are workers working in the Hoa Khanh Industrial Park. Due to living far from home, he and his wife rented a house near the industrial park to go to work, and their child was fortunately accepted to study at the centre. The teaching environment is very good, so they feel very secure and excited.
“On the occasion of Tet, the centre plans to organise a “Spring Festival” to connect 260 families of workers in difficult circumstances. All parents are excited and enthusiastic in preparing for the programme and looking forward to the festival,” Mr. Lam added.
Vice Chairwoman of the Da Nang People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Anh Thi expressed her joy that the children at the centre can live and study in a safe, friendly environment, full of humanity and love. She also praised the managers, teachers and staff of the centre for their great efforts in caring for and educating children of workers’ families in difficult circumstances in the city in recent times.
The effective operation of the centre will be a public-private education model that needs to be replicated, in order to create better development conditions for disadvantaged and vulnerable children, while sharing some of the difficulties of workers and labourers in industrial parks and export processing zones, to help them feel secure in working, producing, and serving society, she noted.
Reporting by MINH HANG – Translating by M.DUNG
