By Thu Van

In 1975, during the post-war days of ration coupons, Vietnamese had to queue to get food and other supplies. It often took hours, but people would get food in the end. More than 30 years later, many parents have to queue from midnight in front of public kindergartens in the hope of securing a place for their children when the gates open in the morning. They often wait for the whole night - and many go home unrewarded.

Nguyen Thi Bich Nga, a resident of Thuy Khue in Ba Dinh District, Ha Noi, was one of those who failed. She queued for a place for her three-year-old son at Chu Van An Kindergarten, a public school where tuition costs about VND500,000 (S$35) a month. "If my son has to go to a private kindergarten, it will cost about VND2 million (S$140) a month. I cannot afford that," she said.

Many of Nga's neighbours suffered the same fate after queuing for hours. It seems ironic that when the country was going through difficult times, every person received the same basic food, but 30 years later, children do not get an equal opportunity to attend public kindergartens.

By waiting, then running, to try and grab a place, parents are demonstrating to their children that there are not enough seats in public kindergartens, so they have to fight for a place - at the gates of schools where, the theory goes, every child has the same opportunity.

Van Nhu Cuong, principal of Luong The Vinh High School in Ha Noi and a member of the National Education Council, agreed. He said national and local education authorities had neglected kindergarten education for too long.

Aware of the difficulty of getting a place in a public school for his three-year-old son, Nguyen Viet Hung (not his real name) succeeded by applying a little bit of "grease". He asked someone with close connections to the principal to ask for a seat for his son in return for a gift of money. His son was accepted. "If I had not done that, I know my son would never have had a chance to go to that public school," he said.

Many other parents also adopt the same technique, creating discrimination between their children and others whose parents are not as wealthy or as well connected.