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Recent reports show 14% (215 communes) of the Delta's communes have no kindergartens at all, while many other places only have temporary facilities, often inconveniently located and without toilets.

For instance, in Bac Lieu Province, only 79 kindergartens out of 190 have their own buildings.

The majority used primary school land and facilities inappropriate for small children, said Trac Van Day, deputy director of the provincial Department of Education and Training.

"Most kindergartens are located in district and town centres, making it inconvenient to for children in remote areas to get to. That is why we have to open temporary kindergartens," he said.

Meanwhile, in Hau Giang Province's Long Tri Commune, a single-room kindergarten is located next to a pigsty owned by farmer Duong Van Giao, who donated 75sq.m of his own land for the children five years ago.

Giao said the bad smell and noise from the pigsty put off the children so he stopped breeding pigs.

He has also replaced the coconut leaf roof with second-hand corrugated iron sheets, which are rusty and leak. "A few days ago, strong winds almost pulled down the classroom," Giao said.

Another 15sq.m kindergarten in the same commune is on land owned by a farmer next to the 3-m-deep Cai Su canal. Only a light bamboo fence divides the two.

The father of a child who attends the nursery said he was in constant fear that children might fall into the water.

Long Binh Commune's temporary kindergarten is located in Long Binh 2 Primary School. Fifty children are kept in a room which is only 20sq.m in area made of corrugated iron sheets.

"If all the children turned up at the same time, there would not be enough room for them. And on a rainy day, the noise is unbearable," said teacher My Tu.

She said the wet and cramped environment had affected the children's respiratory systems.

In Long My District, none of the kindergartens have toilets.

Le Van Huy, deputy head of the local Education and Training Department, said the department spent about VND200 million (USD9,500) repairing temporary classrooms each year, but it was not enough.

Doan Thi Bay, deputy head of Ca Mau Province's Education and Training Department, said it would take time to build kindergartens in all areas in the province, given the shortage of roads and unevenly-distributed population.