New Joint Program Launched to Improve Education for Ethnic Minorities in VietnamBridging gaps to provide opportunities to all children

The Nippon Foundation and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) held a ceremony in Hanoi on March 21 to mark the launch of a project to support education for children from ethnic minorities in Vietnam. The two organizations announced that they will jointly provide US$5.2 million to enable children from ethnic minorities across Vietnam to receive high-quality, inclusive education. The support will be made through Save the Children International’s Vietnam office, and the program will be carried out jointly with Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training.

At the ceremony, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thi Kim Chi thanked The Nippon Foundation and GPE for their support, and expressed her hope that the project would bring together teachers, students, parents and guardians, and local communities to work together in comprehensive activities to create educational environments to bridge accessibility gaps in education for ethnic minority children and children with disabilities.

In his remarks, The Nippon Foundation Chairman Yohei Sasakawa noted that he is very excited to be part of this inclusive educational partnership program. “One World, One Family” is the basic philosophy of The Nippon Foundation, which has been working with partners in Vietnam for many years. He expressed his pleasure at being able to form this partnership with GPE and other partners, pointing out that education is the cornerstone of development, and we all need to strive to provide opportunities for each and every child. He added that he would be visiting two schools in Yên Bái Province the following day, and looked forward to meeting children and other members of the community there.

Charles North, GPE’s Deputy CEO, mentioned the strength of working as partners to overcome obstacles to education, and emphasized that this joint project would work to provide opportunities for learning and growth for all boys and girls in Vietnam regardless of disadvantages they may have because of where they live or their families’ circumstances.

Save the Children International in Vietnam’s Country Director Le Thi Thanh Huong also expressed her thanks to everyone involved in the project.

Vietnam is home to 54 ethnic minorities, primarily in mountainous regions, and the fact that many of these children fall behind after entering elementary school because they do not become sufficiently fluent in the official Vietnamese language during their early childhood has become a major issue. The Nippon Foundation and its partners are providing support to address this through activities including the preparation of bilingual educational materials and teacher training.