Education revolution in Yen Minh: Opportunities for ethnic minorities!

Education revolution in Yen Minh: Opportunities for ethnic minorities!

The Yen Minh District Department of Education (DOET) has ambitious goals to improve the quality of education for ethnic minorities. In particular, it aims to ensure that pupils in remote and disadvantaged areas have the same learning opportunities as their peers. However, many of these families face the challenge of recognizing the importance of education and adequately supporting their children. There is also a shortage of teachers and sufficient investment in facilities and teaching materials in schools. To address these challenges, the Provincial People's Committee's Project 1886 will be implemented from 2023 to 2030.

The project relies on various measures such as organizing “real teaching, real learning, real testing, real quality”. Schools in Yen Minh also mobilize families to enroll their children in school. These measures show positive results: At the Ngam La Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities, the mobilization rate for school attendance is an impressive 98.05%, and 302 of a total of 308 children are enrolled. Of these, 285 attend secondary school, while 11 are in primary school and 6 are in the district boarding school.

Further progress and challenges

The district has made some progress in recent years. By the end of the first quarter, ten schools were closed and 32 combined classes were reduced. All schools in the district now have sufficient teachers and 29 of 54 schools meet national standards. In addition to a structured educational offer, the students also receive care and a healthy diet, which ensures food hygiene. Extracurricular activities and innovative teaching methods are regularly offered to promote motivation to learn.

Despite these improvements, racial educational inequality remains a key issue. As an analysis of racial educational inequality finds, family support is critical to children's educational success. These inequalities often stem from different social, economic and cultural backgrounds, which impact school outcomes. In Germany, for example, studies show that children with a migrant background are often disadvantaged when it comes to their educational aspirations and opportunities. This highlights the need for targeted measures to support all students, particularly those from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

Overall, Yen Minh District shows progress in the quality of education and human resources training, but the path to full equality of opportunity remains long and challenging. Efforts to improve education are critical to increasing educational achievement for all students and combating ethnic discrimination. The combination of school measures and family support could form the basis for a fairer educational future.

For further information about ethnic inequalities in the education system, including international comparisons, the works of Becker and Biedinger as well as Boudon, which discuss the complexity and challenges that many families are confronted with, are of interest. Vietnam and bpb offer extensive information on current developments and challenges in education policy.