Learning in their own language had proven the most effective for
minority children, a seminar to plan policies to improve their education was
told in Ha Noi yesterday, Nov 21.

A geography teacher at Lung Cu Primary School in Dong Van District in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang teaches students in their languages. (Photo: VNS)

Bilingual education had also raised their
school attendance, said Ethnic Minority Department deputy director Le Hai Duong
said.

But although Viet Nam had made remarkable
progress in targeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals for
education, the gap in access and attainment between majority Kinh and minority
children was widening.

“Language is the biggest barrier minority
students face apart from poverty, gender imbalance and disease, deputy director
Duong told the gathering of domestic and international educationists.

“They are forced to learn in a foreign
tongue from their first day in school with only a few have a chance to attend
preparation classes and, as a result, soon drop out.”

United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF
figures show that Viet Nam has about 11 million minority people who account for
13 per cent of the population.

The official language for teaching and
study is Vietnamese and few teachers can speak minority languages.

The result is that only 61 per cent of
minority students complete compulsory primary education.

The percentage for Kinh children is 86 per
cent.

Education and Training Ministry Primary
Education director Le Tien Thanh said the results of minority first graders in
the 2009-10 academic year had been low.

The percentage of poor to average students
in northern Ha Giang Province was more than 70 per cent; in Son La it was 61 per
cent and in Lai Chau 62.

The number varied between 38 and 54 per
cent elsewhere.

“Many provinces have successfully taught
basic Vietnamese for minority pre-schoolers,” said director Thanh.

“But the primary school curricula in
Vietnamese is still a major difficulty for them because they not only have to
learn a new language but also learn the knowledge contained in that language.”

Efforts to help minority students access
Vietnamese had included the increase of yearly sessions from 350 to 500 and the
teaching of two sessions each day with extensions for first graders.

But inadequate facilities and a shortage of
support for both teachers and students limited the results.

Bilingual

Participants told the seminar that
mother-tongue-based bilingual programmes that are the result of co-operation
between the Education and Training Ministry, UNICEF, and the non-governmental
organisation, Save the Children, have strengthened the mastery of Vietnamese and
promoted minority languages and culture among minority students.

A pilot programme agreed to between the
ministry and UNICEF allowed Mong, Jrai and Khmer pre-schoolers in Lao Cai, Gia
Lai and Tra Vinh provinces to study in their mother tongue as their major
language and start learning Vietnamese as their second language between the
third and fifth grades.

Vietnamese was compulsory only after the
students finished their primary education.

The eight-year programme started in 2008
has helped 514 minority students become sufficiently adequate in Vietnamese to
learn their lessons.

“All of 14 Mong students in my class are
more self-confident about raising their hands to give their opinion and make
friends when they study in their own language,” said teacher Hoan Thi Phuong of
Ban Pho Commune Primary School in Lao Cai Province’s Bac Ha District.

“None play truant and their results are
better than those who study in Vietnamese,” she said.

Agreement

An agreement between the Education and
Training Ministry and Save the Children provides bilingual education for
children in Quang Ninh and Dien Bien provinces.

Funded from a US$1.8 million grant, the
purpose of the project is to support minority children aged 5-14.

Minority-language-speaking local assistants
translate and help teachers with the lessons.

US-based Summer Institute of Linguistics
Multilingual Education consultant Susan Malone said the model had been applied
successfully in the Philippines with its 128 minority languages and Thailand,
where five groups of minority students had accessed bilingual education.

UNESCO Education Programme Co-ordinator
Santosh Khatri said learning in their mother-tongue allowed students to learn
easier and faster and their parents to participate in their children’s study.
“The programmes will be effective if all the students are in the same ethnic
minority group and have their own written languages,” said Ethnic Minority
Department Duong.

But the initial effort had been positive
despite shortcomings.

The assistants were required to master both
the minority languages and Vietnamese which caused difficulties because such
teachers were limited in quality and quantity.

Participants suggested that the Government
maintain the teaching of Vietnamese for pre-schoolers and introduce support
policies for teachers who have to study minority languages as part of their
careers as well as organise summer classes for them.

Children who attended two daily sessions to
improve their Vietnamese language skills should be given a free afternoon meal.

And the pay for the assistant teachers
should be increased because the monthly VND650,000 now paid was too low.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News