DECISION

APPROVING SCHEME FOR IMPROVEMENT OF VIETNAMESE PROFICIENCY FOR PRESCHOOL- AND ELEMENTARY-AGE ETHNIC MINORITY CHILDREN FOR 2016 - 2020, WITH ORIENTATIONS TOWARDS 2025

PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Education Law dated June 14, 2005 and Law on Amendments to Certain Articles of the Education Law dated November 25, 2009;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 449/QD-TTg dated March 12, 2013 approving the strategy for ethnic minority affairs by 2020;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 404/QD-TTg dated March 27, 2015 approving  the scheme for reforms in general education programs and textbooks;

At the request of the Minister of Education and Training,

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Article 1. The scheme for improvement of Vietnamese proficiency for preschool- and elementary-age ethnic minority children for 2016 - 2020 with orientations towards 2025 (hereinafter referred to as “the Scheme”), with the following basic contents, is approved:

I. OBJECTIVES

1. General objectives

Focus on improving Vietnamese proficiency of preschool- and elementary-age ethnic minority children, ensuring that they have basic Vietnamese skills to complete preschool and elementary programs; build the foundation for acquisition of knowledge of the following educational levels; contribute to improvement of quality of life and sustainable development of ethnic minorities and Vietnam’s development.

2. Specific objectives

a) By 2020, at least 35% of junior kindergarten-age ethnic minority children and 90% of senior kindergarten-age ethnic minority children and 100% of these children that are enrolled in preschool institutions have their Vietnamese proficiency improved as appropriate to their age group;

b) By 2025, at least 50% of junior kindergarten-age ethnic minority children and 95% of senior kindergarten-age ethnic minority children and 100% of these children that are enrolled in preschool institutions have their Vietnamese proficiency improved as appropriate to their age group;

c) On an annual basis, 100% of elementary ethnic minority students have their Vietnamese proficiency improved.

II. REGULATED ENTITIES AND SCOPE

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2. Preschool-age children and elementary students of ethnic minorities (hereinafter collectively referred to as “children”) in the abovementioned 42 provinces and cities.

III. TASKS AND SOLUTIONS

1. Boost communication activities

a) Promote the Scheme’s objectives, purposes and necessity to raise the awareness and increase the responsibility of Party Executive Committees, local governments, parents, students, teachers, education managers and the community towards improving Vietnamese proficiency of ethnic minority children;

b) Design and launch segments and special pages assisting parents and communities with improvement of children’s Vietnamese proficiency on mass media;

c) Encourage and assist parents in improving their children’s Vietnamese proficiency. Compile documents and provide training concerning Vietnamese to ethnic minority parents and communities to create a Vietnamese-speaking environment in the family and community. Encourage ethnic minority families to enable their children to attend school all day and diligently. Improve Vietnamese proficiency of ethnic minority parents.

2. Provide more educational resources, teaching equipment and toys; create Vietnamese-speaking environment

a) Prepare documents, educational resources, pictures, tapes and disks appropriate to ethnic minority children for preschool and primary education institutions located in ethnic minority areas;

b) Replace teaching equipment, toys, educational resources and software for Vietnamese teaching and provide new ones for all preschool and primary education groups and classes in communes with socio-economic difficulties or extreme socio-economic difficulties where there are ethnic minority children to support Vietnamese proficiency improvement;

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d) Build and pilot local Vietnamese proficiency improvement models suitable for capacity and characteristics of each locality for educational managers and teachers to visit, learn from and implement them on a large scale. Strive to build and implement Vietnamese proficiency improvement models on a large scale in a majority of provinces by 2020 and most provinces by 2025 for provinces with ethnic minority children; formulate a map of minority languages in provinces with multiple ethnic minorities to support management and implementation of the Scheme.

3. Enhance capacity of teachers and educational managers of preschool and primary education institutions where ethnic minority children are enrolled and language supporters working with ethnic minority children

a) Compile documents on and provide training in management, methods and skills concerning Vietnamese proficiency improvement appropriate to ethnic minority children for educational managers and teachers working with ethnic minority children;

b) Improve minority language proficiency for teachers teaching ethnic minority children;

c) Prepare documents and provide training for language supporters;

d) Add contents about Vietnamese proficiency improvement for ethnic minority children to preschool and primary education programs in pedagogical colleges and universities.

4. Research, develop and provide some specific benefits for teachers involved in Vietnamese proficiency improvement for ethnic minority children.

5. Promote privatization and international cooperation

a) Promote privatization of education and international cooperation to mobilize resources from domestic and foreign individuals, organizations, enterprises, units, mass organizations and socio-political organizations and other legal funding sources for Vietnamese proficiency improvement for ethnic minority children;

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c) Encourage enterprises, organizations and individuals to contribute funding, books, documents, educational resources and toys for improvement of Vietnamese proficiency of ethnic minority children;

d) Call for and utilize assistance from international organizations in terms of finance and technology, and learn advanced methods for improvement of Vietnamese proficiency of ethnic minority children selectively.

IV. FUNDING

1. The Scheme shall be funded by state budget for recurrent expenditures on education, other legal funding sources mobilized from and sponsored by communities and enterprises, and sponsorship from other countries and international organizations; development of language maps and Vietnamese teaching software, preparation of source documents, and core personnel training shall be funded by central government budget; procurement of teaching equipment, toys and educational resources, document preparation for each locality, local personnel training and other contents of the Scheme shall be funded by local government budget and private funding sources.

2. Funding from state budget shall be allocated to the Scheme in accordance with current state budget decentralization.

Article 2. Implementation

1. Responsibilities of central government authorities

a) Ministry of Education and Training shall:

- Take charge and cooperate with other ministries, central authorities and local governments in directing, formulating plans and organize implementation of the Scheme.

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- Assist building and launching pilot models of Vietnamese proficiency improvement for ethnic minority children; provide technical assistance for areas with socio-economic difficulties or extreme socio-economic difficulties; develop Vietnamese teaching software and minority language maps.

- Inspect, evaluate and consolidate Scheme implementation results on an annual and periodic basis and upon Scheme completion, and submit preliminary and summary reports to the Prime Minister.

b) Ministry of Finance shall:

- Take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Education and Training and relevant ministries and central authorities in proposing allocation of funding for recurrent expenditure for the Scheme to competent authorities for approval.

- Cooperate with the Ministry of Education and Training in financial inspections according to existing regulations of the Law on State Budget.

c) Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs shall:

- Cooperate with the Ministry of Education and Training, ministries, central authorities and local governments in raising awareness of educational development and Vietnamese proficiency improvement for ethnic minority children.

- Cooperate with the Ministry of Education and Training and relevant ministries and central authorities in inspecting implementation of the Scheme.

d) Relevant ministries and central authorities shall cooperate with the Ministry of Education and Training in expediting performance of the Scheme’s tasks intra vires.

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2. Responsibilities of People’s Committees of provinces and central-affiliated cities:

a) Direct Departments of Education and Training and other regulatory bodies in their provinces/cities to formulate and launch plans for Scheme implementation in their provinces/cities, and report to the Ministry of Education and Training, which will submit a consolidated report to the Prime Minister;

b) Allocate funding for and directly implement the Scheme in their provinces/cities, and ensure effectiveness thereof;

c) Promulgate mechanisms and policies necessary for their provinces/cities, attract private funding and mobilize other legal funding sources to gradually provide all facilities, equipment, toys and educational resources for preschool and primary education institutions, especially individual groups and classes, to improve educational quality in their provinces/cities;

d) Provide assistance for teachers teaching minority languages to ethnic minority children in localities where they work;

dd) Direct investment in teaching equipment and facilities as appropriate to actual situation of each preschool/primary education institution where ethnic minority children are enrolled.

3. Socio-political organizations, mass organizations and armed forces shall support implementation of the Scheme intra vires and as capable of.

Article 3. Effect

1. This Decision takes effect from the date on which it is signed.

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P.P. THE PRIME MINISTER
THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER




Vu Duc Dam

APPENDIX

LIST OF PROVINCES AND CENTRAL-AFFILIATED CITIES WITH LARGE NUMBER OF ETHNIC MINORITY CHILDREN

(Enclosed with Decision No. 1008/QD-TTg dated June 02, 2016 by the Prime Minister)

No.

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No.

Name of province/city

No.

Name of province/city

1

Dien Bien

15

Phu Tho

29

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2

Son La

16

Vinh Phuc

30

Dak Lak

3

Lai Chau

17

...

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31

Dak Nong

4

Hoa Binh

18

Nghe An

32

Lam Dong

5

...

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19

Ha Tinh

33

Dong Nai

6

Bac Kan

20

Quang Binh

34

...

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7

Ha Giang

21

Quang Tri

35

Ninh Thuan

8

Tuyen Quang

22

...

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36

Binh Thuan

9

Lao Cai

23

Quang Nam

37

Vinh Long

10

...

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24

Quang Ngai

38

Tra Vinh

11

Quang Ninh

25

Binh Dinh

39

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12

Lang Son

26

Phu Yen

40

Soc Trang

13

Bac Giang

27

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41

Bac Lieu

14

Thai Nguyen

28

Gia Lai

42

Da Nang