Ethnic minority pupils

VietNamNet Bridge - Weaknesses in ethnic education must be eliminated as soon as possible so that the education of minority people matched that of the entire nation, Education and Training Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said in Ha Noi on April 18.

The minister delivered his assessment during a three-city teleconference to discuss the achievements as well as the difficulties and challenges of ethnic-minority education.

The key objective of the conference was to devise measures to accelerate ethnic-minority education to 2020, he told his two deputies Pham Vu Luan in Da Nang and Nguyen Vinh Hien in Can Tho.

Ethnic education was a crucial part of national education, he said.

It was also strategic to the socio-economic development, security and defence of regions inhabited by ethnic people.

"We are very proud of achievements gained in ethnic education over the last 60 years," the minister said.

Major change

The number of ethnic-minority students attending school increased to almost 2.3 million during the 2006-2007 school year.

Of these 50.8 per cent went to primary school; 36.4 per cent to lower secondary school and 12.73 per cent to senior secondary school.

But their education was of poorer quality than their fellow Vietnamese.

The number of school drop outs among the mostly highland students was also a problem.

During the 2005-2006 school year, the percentage of ethnic students who completed lower secondary school in the Northwest; the Central Highlands and the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta was about 58 per cent against the national average of 78 per cent.

The highest rate of drop outs for this school year has been reported from Tra Vinh, Tuyen Quang, Ca Mau, Yen Bai and Ha Giang provinces.

Help sought

The Education and Training Departments of highland Gia Lai, Lao Cai, Soc Trang and Tra Vinh provinces have asked the Government for special policies to meet their educational requirements.

They have also asked the Government, the National Assembly and the Education and Training Ministry to change the Education Law to allow the writing of text books suitable to their specific need and to encourage more quality teachers posted to the remote highlands.

They also want improved co-ordination between the variety of national programmes and Official Development Assistance projects.

Pre-schools

An Education and Training Ministry reports that pre-schools are available in almost all hamlets in highland and remote regions.

The number of children under six attending school has increased each year for the last five years, the report says.

In the 2006-2007 school year almost 44.100 ethnic-minority children attended kindergartens with almost 100,000 of the children aged five.

A special 26-week programme has been prepared for the entry of these children into primary school.

The number of kindergartens is still not enough to meet demand with some commune kindergartens within primary schools.

General education

Many highland communes did not have primary schools before the 1990s. Now all communes have primary schools for children aged from 6-14 and the percentage of ethnic students attending primary school has increased each year.

So too has the numbers finishing primary school.

For example, the figure for central-highland Dak Lak and Gia Lai was more than 90 per cent; for central Thua Thien-Hue Province 98 per cent; northern Bac Giang Province 98.2 per cent and southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province 97.9 per cent.

Lower secondary schools have been established in almost all communes with district senior secondary schools.

The number of ethnic-minority students undertaking tertiary education has also increased between 2001-2005 and 240 boarding schools have been opened for secondary students.

These cater for almost 100,000 students.

(Source: VNS)