HCM City tourism agencies have been scrambling to book domestic and foreign tours to take advantage of a six-day Tet (Lunar New Year) that will begin on February 6.

The number of bookings for tours offered by major companies like Saigontourist, Vietravel and Fiditour have doubled over last year.

Many tours have been fully booked, and demand has increased prices by 20 to 30 per cent.

"Customers are still coming but we must turn them away, " Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, an official of Fiditour, said.

Fiditour ususally receives between 20 and 30 customers for a group tour, but for Tet the number has risen to 40 or 50, Mai said.

Saigontourist this week closed many of its domestic and foreign tours, two weeks earlier compared with Tet last year.

"Vietravel has booked more than 8,000 customers, 4,000 of whom bought foreign tours," Huynh Thu Dung, head of Vietravel’s Press Office said.

"Many customers booked tours weeks before the end of last year," she said.

The number of overseas Vietnamese returning home for Tet has increased by 30 per cent compared with last year.

Vung Tau, Phan Thiet, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc are the favourite domestic destinations while tours to Asian countries have attracted a great number of customers.

Special tours

Vietravel said it has organised pagoda tours for the first time this year.

The tours will take travellers to well-known pagodas like Yen Tu and Dau in northern Viet Nam and Ba Chua Xu Temple in Chau Doc in the Cuu Long (Mekong) delta province of An Giang.

"Many Vietnamese like to go to pagodas on Tet to pray for good health and prosperity," she said.

Dung says trips to Yen Tu Pagoda, which is located on the Bach Van Son (White Cloud) Mountain in Quang Ninh Province, will involve trekking through mountainous terrain carved with streams and canyons.

Yen Tu was founded by King Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308) who abandoned his throne and began service as a monk at the pagoda.

Built in the 3rd century, the Dau pagoda in Thuan Thanh District in Bac Ninh Province, 30km from Ha Noi, is Viet Nam’s most ancient sanctum.

The tours will start on the second and fourth day of the lunar year.

Besides favourite tours to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, HCM City travel companies are offering many tours to Egypt, Japan, Australia and South Africa.

Many people have bought tours to Isreal and Croatia, organised for the first time by Carnival Travel Company.

"The six days off are precious," a young engineer said. "It’s a good time to relax. My family will go to Hong Kong. I like new tours to countries like Egypt and Croatia, but they are too long for Tet."

Even though they’ve got a good force going for the new season, former champions Hoang Anh Gia Lai still need to fix some problems before the third round of the V-League tomorrow.

The team, under coach Amorakiat Anant, has an understanding between positions, especially on defence. They are successful in combining veterans with young players in the line-up.

The experienced Tran Duy Quang and new faces Pham Lam Minh Thong and Nguyen Viet Anh build up Gia Lai’s wall in front of goalie Pham Ngoc Tu.

Striker Tang Tuan has gradually proven his talent paired with Brazilian Agostino Filho.

National member Phung Van Nhien is a newcomer for the team who moved here from Nam Dinh. His presence in the line-up strengthens Gia Lai’s left wing.

However, the team’s members are all afraid of high balls because most of them are not tall enough. They meet with difficulties when faced with high-flying balls.

The right wing of the team is also having problems, as their halfbacks, who were previously midfielders, are usually inclined to play in the centre, leaving the wings vulnerable.

They have already suffered a lost goal through this weakness by Nguyen Van Vinh in the second round against Hoa Phat Ha Noi.

Two-time champion Gia Lai are now in third place with four points after one win and one draw. They will play Ha Noi ACB, another capital team, on their home turf tomorrow.

Meanwhile, eyes are looking to Dong Tam Long An, who have yet to receive a victory after the first two rounds.

They will face SHB Da Nang on their home field, Long An Stadium. They must win the match to get back the belief of their fans after previously disappointing games.

In the opening match, the team lost 0-1 to former champions Hoang Anh Gia Lai in a match that was resumed due to bad light during the first game. In the second round, they struggled before taking one point against Boss Binh Dinh. The former champions are currently in 11th place with one point.

Da Nang are in an even worse situation at the bottom of the ranking table. They lost both previous matches, to Hai Phong Cement on January 6 and Nam Dinh last Sunday.

In other news, reigning champions Becamex Binh Duong will meet with Southern Steel-Sai Gon Port, who are atop the table after two wins and six points.

Halida Thanh Hoa, who are suing First Division Vinakansai Ninh Binh team over illegally signing midfielder Mai Tien Thanh, will welcome Song Lam Nghe An.

The Hanoian Hoa Phat will see Binh Dinh while Khatoco Khanh Hoa will play Hai Phong. The earliest game is between The Cong Viettel and Nam Dinh in Ha Noi today.

Binh Dien Long An topped group A at the VTV Volleyball Tournament with a fourth win yesterday over Bai Bang Paper Mill in the Central Highland province of Dac Lac.

Reigning champion Long An, who had no worthy rivals in their group, beat Bai Bang 25-16, 25-13, 25-13 to continue Sunday’s winning streak.

With serves from national members Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa and Dinh Thi Dieu Chau along with Thai attacker Khanan Harumon, host Long An had no difficulties dumping Bai Bang comfortably in straight sets.

They showed their rivals no mercy in a completely one-sided battle in the two first sets.

During the third set was the only time that Bai Bang had nothing to lose. They came up and led 4-2 before Long An attacked with some dandy and dazzling volleyball to capture the set 25-13, and the match.

Bai Bang attacker Nguyen Thi Nhi was the only player at her peak, scoring a number of points for the team. Her and setter Nguyen Thi Thu nailing some balls for points were the only bright spots for the visiting side. But they were not enough to pull the team up from a third loss.

On Long An’s side, Narumon played an impressive game and was appreciated by coach Luong Khuong Thuong, who didn’t have to work very hard for his win.

"I was really surprised with Narumon’s performance. In such a short time she quickly integrated into the team with other members. Through four games, I can say that she is the most dynamic and multi-purposed player on the team," said Thuong.

The 24-year-old Narumon began playing volleyball at the age of 12 and was called for the national junior team three years later. She became a national member at the age of 20.

After just a brief stint in Viet Nam, she said she wanted to stay with the Vietnamese club for a long time.

After four wins, Long An rank first in group A and are waiting for the results of the later matches to know who the will face in the semi-finals. Bai Bang were sent home with only one win and three failures.

Players will have one day off today and will be back at 3pm tomorrow for the semis. The final is scheduled for Sunday.

The VTV tournament drew 10 local and foreign teams vying for a total prize of US$17,000, of which the top team will take home $5,000 and the cup.

 As the new year approaches, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong looked back at 2007 as a transitional year for the two tenures of the National Assembly.

The general elections to the 12th National Assembly was considered the key activity of the entire Party and nation in 2007, Trong said in an interview with the Viet Nam News Agency to mark the New Year.

More than two thirds of the 493 deputies elected were new to the assembly, a great success according to Trong.

"The renewal has been going on within the 12th National Assembly smoothly," Trong said while looking back at what was achieved over the year.

He added that the election of key positions in the Government at the first NA meeting was proof of the high consensus among the deputies in the spirit of democracy.

The second meeting constituted more proof of the elevated sense of responsibility deputies had adapted towards issues facing the nation and the people. Never before had virtually all the deputies raised their voices at general debates, including deputies of ethnic minorities. Though many controversial issues were debated during the meeting, they were eventually settled with consensus.

As for looking ahead to 2008, Chairman Trong said the NA would continue to renovate its organisation and performance gearing towards efficient and effective governance.

"The NA is the sole body upholding the constitution. It is the legislative body empowered with the highest level of review and decides important issues of the nation," said Trong.

He emphasised the NA’s commitment to continue the renewal process efficiently – politically and economically while enhancing democracy.

In order to do that, Trong said that in 2008 the NA would continue to complete the legal framework by introducing and approving more laws to respond to new requirements.

"It is more important that the laws be beneficial and applicable in reality," said Trong.

To live up to the voters’ expectation, each deputy had been required to enhance their role and be an expert in the area they belong to, Trong said. In addition to that, the deputies had to be vigilant and brave, particularly in overseeing activities.

"All the deputies, NA Committees and offices must be a team," Trong emphasised. 

 Demand for private pre-schools in Viet Nam is higher than ever and the Government has to do more to control and support it, according to deputy director of HCM City’s Education and Training Department Le Thi Hong Lien.

"The recent scandal involving an unlicensed nanny in southern Bien Hoa City who beat seven children under her care highlights the dangers private pre-schools can pose," Lien said.

Private centres account for 10-15 per cent of all pre-schools in the country and the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) can’t possibly supervise them all, deputy head of the Pre-school Education Department Nguyen Thi Hop said.

Instead, responsibility is handed down to Communal People’s Committees, who are assigned the task of granting licences to private nurseries as long as facilities meet requirements.

Poor management can lead to a massive gulf between the quality of public and private pre-schools, deputy director Lien said.

"Public pre-schools are usually well-equipped while a lot of private ones can be cramped, dirty, dark and even pose a risk to health."

 So why do parents send their kids to these centres?

According to Lien, public centres receive money from the State budget, which accounts for around 8 per cent of the total amount spent. on education, but numbers are limited and fees are generally quite high because only qualified nannies are hired.

"In private pre-schools monthly fees are between VND200,000 and 300,000 (US$12.5-18.8) while meals cost between VND5,000-10,000 ($0.3-0.6)."

Added to this is the fact that many public pre-schools do not have very flexible opening times so employees with antisocial working hours miss out.

"Equal education for private and public pre-school children can only be brought about with Government support for both sides," Lien said.

Private demand

Demand for pre-school education is on the rise as more parents appreciate the benefits of pre-school education, more mothers go out to work and fewer extended families live together. But despite efforts to expand and upgrade public and partially public-funded centres, the 4,500 – 5,000 schools across the country couldn’t accommodate the approximately 3 million children who needed a place in 2006.

According to the 2007 Education For All Mid-term Assessment on Early Childhood Care and Education in Viet Nam, around 60 per cent of children under six were attending private centres. That figure included 75 per cent of children under four and over 55 per cent of children aged between four and six.

Since the 2000-2001 school year, the number of children enrolled in pre-schools of all kinds has gone up by 2.88 per cent a year, 3.9 per cent for children between 4-6 years old, according to head of the MoET’s Pre-primary Education Department Le Minh Ha.

Not all private schools are low quality and some can provide a wider range of early childhood care and education, from top-class bilingual kindergartens to cheap child care.

"Home-based private nurseries, licensed by local people’s committees, are sometimes better for workers’ children as their parents have to work late," deputy head of the Pre-school Education Department Hop said.

Parent Nguyen Bach Duong from Ha Noi’s Thanh Xuan District echoed this sentiment.

"I send my two-year-old son to a private nursery school to a public one because they can take him in at any time, not necessarily just at the beginning of the school year," she added.

These plus points mean more children can get access to pre-school education, an especially important factor for a developing country, according to the 2007 Education For All, Global Monitoring Report. But cases like the Bien Hoa City nanny serve as a harsh reminder of its pitfalls.