The Ministry of Education in Vanuatu says it can't afford to pay salaries to early childhood teachers at the moment.
Some preschool teachers in Santo have complained they must rely for their income on fees from parents, who often cannot afford to pay.
The Ministry's national early childhood coordinator, Jenny James, hopes to have a policy on preschool education in place by the end of the year.
But she says it does not have the funds to pay teachers yet.
"Due to financial constraints we haven't really done much in the area of paying teachers salaries. As it is early childhood or preschools in Vanuatu have been catered for by the communities, and its been doing quite well. The communities have been building kindergartens and have been giving allowance or aid to the teachers."
Jenny James says AUSAID, NZAID and UNICEF are helping the government to provide more training for preschool teachers, many of whom are unqualified.
