What education for the ethnic minorities of Vietnam? Pre-schooling as a pattern of social integration

Transcription

1 Raglai children at Suoi Cat Kindergarten What education for the ethnic minorities of Vietnam? Pre-schooling as a pattern of social integration Nguyen Van Phu Conference sub-theme: IV. Bridging the Social Divide through Inclusive Education Education of marginalized groups

2 What education for the ethnic minorities of Vietnam? Pre-schooling as a pattern of social integration Nguyen Van Phu With assistance from Prasert Tepanart Purisima Gonzales Auray Aun Doan Nguyen Vu Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy Abstract Edited by Sarah Henon In Vietnam, minority children in mountainous areas face extremely precarious conditions: work in the fields, weak sanitary conditions, language barriers, parents unaware of the value of education resulting in low enrolment rates and high drop out rates from schools. Therefore, education is a tool for personal and social development, especially relevant for pre-school aged children in a situation of social marginalization. Equipped with education, these minority children can later on have some basic life skills to cope up with lives, especially when human resources are much needed in a booming economy such as in Vietnam. Based on these observations, Aide et Action in collaboration with the Department of Education and Training in Khanh Hoa province designed a project for pre-schooling minority children. Social aspects (such as birth certificates for children from 0-5 years old) and educational needs were taken into account to create best conditions learning for children, complemented by parental and community involvement. As a result, 100% of families having 5-year-old-children send their children to school; many parents are still requesting schooling for 3-4 years old children which shows significantly positive changes in parents' attitudes towards pre-school education. These results open the debate on the need to take a holistic approach to young children s education, in order for the school to fulfil its role within the socialization and integration pattern of all children. But what are the limits to a school s potential for integrating ethnic minority children? 2

3 THE PRE-SCHOOLING PROGRAM FOR ETHNIC MINORITY CHILDREN IN SELECTED COMMUNITIES OF KHANH HOA PROVINCE Educational context in Vietnam Vietnam has demonstrated its strong commitment to education. Emphasis in the past two decades has been primarily placed on achieving quantitative targets such as Universal Primary Education (UPE). Since the World Education Conference in 1990, Vietnam embraced the fundamental goals of Education for All (EFA). At the 2000, World Education Forum in Senegal, the Government agreed to the adoption of the Dakar Framework for Action, Education for All: Meeting Our Collective Commitments and thus dedicated itself to drawing up and implementing a credible action plan. Vietnam s EFA Action Plan ( ) focuses on, among other things, ensuring that all children in Vietnam have access to quality primary education. This commitment is clearly stipulated in the Education Development Plan for and the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy. A fully-costed National Education for All - Action Plan was approved in July 2003 by the Prime Minister and jointly reviewed and endorsed by international partners and Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in September The Plan was seen as a credible strategic framework for the Government. It is important to know that Vietnam is the only country in the South East Asia region that has qualified to date for the EFA Fast Track Initiative (Vietnam s Education Development Plan for , Vietnam s Education for All Action Plan ). Vietnam has achieved significant progress in the field of education during the last decade. The primary net enrolment rate increased from 86 per cent to 91 per cent from 1990 to In 2005, the net rate for primary enrolment school was 94.6 per cent. The dropout rate had declined from 12 per cent to about 3 per cent, the repetition rate from 9 per cent to less than 5 per cent and the completion rate has increased from 47 per cent to more than 75 per cent. The transition rate from primary to lower secondary has increased from 78 per cent to 88 per cent. Vietnam is seen to be on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals for education, according to the Department for International Development, UK (04/2008). Vietnam s Education Law 2005 defines clearly early childhood education as part of the national education system. The objectives of the early childhood education are to help children develop physically, emotionally, intellectually and aesthetically in order to develop initial elements of social and cognitive skills required in primary school education. There are three types of approaches to early childhood care and education for children from 0 to 5 years old that included (1) childcare or day-care centers, crèches and nurseries for children from 0 to 3 year old, (2) kindergartens for children from 3 to 5 years old and (3) parental education programs. However, in practice, early childhood education is not compulsory and nor a prerequisite for primary school entry. In general, early childhood care and educational facilities are limited and inadequate. Children aged up to 6 years old from rural, mountainous and ethnic minority areas are particularly underserved in access to preschool education. 3

4 According to the report EFA by 2008: Will we make it? (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 11/2008), Vietnam is facing the great challenge of progressing towards six EFA goals in the areas of early childhood care and education, universal primary education, learning needs of young people and adults, adult literacy, gender equality and quality education. Vietnam is facing some emerging challenges in keeping children in schools. According to the report, there are still one million children out of schools in Vietnam. Based on the EFA Development Index (EDI) 2008, Vietnam is ranked 79 th out of 129 countries in achieving EFA goals. Education of Ethnic Minority Children Vietnam is a multi-ethnic society with more than 54 ethnic groups. The Viet (Kinh) people account for 87% of the country s population of more than 84 million. The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has shown many efforts to improve the quality of education for ethnic minority children. Language programs for Cham, Bahnar, Ede, and Khmer groups, which have written languages, have been imparted to children for four periods per week in grade one. MoET s Primary Education for Disadvantaged Children has been implementing a program of teacher assistant in classes with ethnic minority children. Those teacher assistants are mainly selected from local ethnic minority people. They are responsible to support classroom teachers with language teaching as well as classroom management However, there remains a considerable gap between education for the majority of Kinh children and the ethnic minority. Ethnic minority children, especially those who have no written language like Raglai, Ray, and K ho groups, face many difficulties in adapting to the new national curriculum which uses Vietnamese as an official language for the teaching and learning. According to a study by the Ministry of Education and Training, for the school year , grade one children of 40 rural provinces performed poorly in Vietnamese language. About 70% of ethnic minority children cannot understand and speak Vietnamese language before coming to grade one (VNS, 08/2008). There is also inadequate support in terms of in-service training for local teachers especially ethnic minority teachers. Only 5% of primary teachers are ethnic minorities (VNS, 08/2008). Most teachers are Kinh, and they do not learn any ethnic minority language in teacher training colleges. There is also no curriculum for ethnic minority languages for teacher trainees. Only four universities currently teach ethnic minority languages in Vietnam. Although the Government has supplied most of its schools equipment and materials for the implementation of the new primary curriculum, the quality of primary education remains low and variable at ethnic minority schools. According to UNESCO (2005) 20 per cent of ethnic minority children of Vietnam have no access to basic education. A national study of grade 5 reading and mathematics achievements conducted by the World Bank (Reading and Mathematics, Assessment Study, 12/2004) found that there exists a big gap in reading and mathematics competency between children of remote and isolated schools, and those from urban schools. Teachers knowledge of subject areas Vietnamese language and Mathematics- is especially weak in rural schools, according to the study, the isolated schools that suffers the most for their teachers imbalance of subject knowledge Indeed, some grade 5 children 4

5 performed better than grade five teachers in their Vietnamese reading and mathematics assessment. Furthermore, school resources such as resource books and supplementary materials for both teachers and children are lacking in remote and ethnic minority schools. Gender disparity in education presents significant concern among ethnic minority students, especially for girls. According to a study on The transition of ethnic minority girls from primary to secondary education joined by the Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam, the United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF), and UNESCO (02/2008), there are multiple obstacles facing ethnic minority girls in Viet Nam in the transition from primary to lower secondary school. To H mong, Bahnar, J rai and Khmer girls, specific barriers keeping them away from schools are (1) economic and financial, (2) need to work, (3) education lacks value for parents and girls, (4) poor quality of teaching and learning in schools and (5) inadequate school infrastructure. Project Background The project was implemented over five years from July 2005 to December 2009 in Suoi Cat commune, Cam Lam district, Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam. This project is jointly implemented by Aide et Action with the Provincial Education and Training Department (DoET) of Khanh Hoa province, with the local authorities at commune level. The main objective of the project is to improve the quality of education for ethnic minority children aged 3 to 5 years old. Specifically, the project aims to 1) provide access to quality education and care for ethnic minority children aged up to 5 years; 2) strengthen community, teachers and parents understanding of early childhood care and education, including appropriate practices and its importance for child development, 3) improve existing community child- related practices, in the areas of health, safety and inter-ethnic cohesion The project engages in the following activities providing birth certificates to children, collaborating with the commune s social workers to address the problems of malnutrition among children, educating parents especially mothers to be able to observe and identify anomalies in child development, raising public awareness on hazard prevention such as accidents through health education, providing basic learning skills to children, providing training for kindergarten teachers, building new classrooms with teaching and learning equipment, giving support to children s school attendance, building the new kitchen with cooking facilities to provide lunch to children. Direct beneficiaries of the project include 86 Raglai children of the project schools, and the same number of children from other schools in 6 districts, are the prime beneficiaries through the implementation of the project. Nursery and kindergarten teachers improve their knowledge and teaching skills. Education officers at both district and provincial levels also benefit from reinforced capacities in planning, implementing and monitoring preschool projects. Lessons and best practices from the project experience will benefit all interested parties, and will be beneficial for possible expansion and replication in other areas of Vietnam in the future. 5

6 Project Description The district of Cam Lam was formed in 2007 by merging 12 communes from Cam Ranh district, and two from Dien Khanh district. Most local people earn their living by cultivating rice and planting sugar cane, cassava and fruit trees. Suoi Cat commune is a semi forest area covering 10,034 hectares of which only 1,091 hectares are arable. It has a population of 8,038 inhabitants consisting of 1,727 households. There are 302 minority families of Raglai origin (or approximately 1,575 people). The Raglai people speak a language in the Malayo-Polynesian language family. The Raglai language still has a very limited vocabulary of some 7,000 words. In order to help Raglai people to learn Vietnamese, Khanh Hoa Provincial Television has developed a 20 minute television programme. The programme, which is broadcasted every second Thursday evening and rebroadcast in the next morning, is in Raglai language with Vietnamese subtitles. In recent years, the provincial government has delivered support to Raglai people in the form of house construction for Raglai families, distribution of rice for minority children attending schools, and interest-free loans in kind such as cattle The satellite Suoi Lau school, Suoi Cat commune is located 4 kms away from the main school where one gets an impression that safety and protection is an issue for children. The classroom itself is small and crowded for 35 children and there is a visible lack of toys, equipment and relevant teaching and learning materials for both teachers and children. Issues and Challenges Providing quality education to Raglai children requires addressing issues related to language learning barriers, poverty and the neglect of their parents. The implementation of the half-day schooling program has not brought positive impacts on Raglai children. Another challenge is the availability and limitation of teachers who are capable to communicate with Raglai children in their native language. As most people from this minority group are not able to communicate in Vietnamese, it is difficult to raise their awareness on the value of education for their children. There are a total of 35 ethnic minority children with only one teacher. Specific issues affecting the school s potential to providing quality education to Raglai minority children were identified as follows: Difficulty to identify children s ages - Raglai people are nomads, they have no concept of the calendar. Neither do they consider the benefits of birth certificates nor remember the dates when their children were born. The ages of their children are decided based on the physical changes observed by the parents and estimation of time passed. Children s ages can only be evaluated through their parents declaration, yet this is often insufficient. For instance, one Raglai parent said that his child was born in the last three crops. So, the officials who record the ages of the child must make an estimate, which in some cases may not match the child s real age. 6

7 Parents lack of education Most Raglai adults are illiterate and do not understand the value of early childhood schooling. Most of them expect that every child going to school will receive government financial assistance. Poor school infrastructure and unsafe learning environment - A classroom with limited space cannot accommodate children s activities. The classroom also has limited number of toys and the playground has no equipment for children to play. The construction of the highway has taken a lot of land given to the school. One of the negative aspects affecting children s safety is the digging of ditches, which are many meters deep. Limited qualified teachers The teacher to child ratio is 1:30. The school has no extra staff to support caring activities for children. In addition, teachers qualifications and competencies is one of the many issues. Lack of teaching and learning aids/equipment - As local funding for the school is limited there are not many toys and equipment for children s games and learning activities. Children's poor health - Raglai parents do not have the concept of providing three meals per day for their children. As they originally came from the mountainous areas, their habit is to search for food in the vicinity and cook in a saucepan where everyone comes to eat only when they are hungry. It was also observed that in the Reglai village, there are instances that a child shares his meal with a small pig in the same pot. Raglai children s health suffer from poor hygiene, sanitation and food safety standards, as good practices are taken for granted by the Raglai communities. Very often, unbalanced meals have led to problems of malnutrition that affect over 80% of children of 5 years of age in this community. When children get sick, they are only treated at home by traditional methods that include prayers by the ancestors which are certainly ineffective that mainly rely in a superstitious belief. Language barriers - Raglai children do not speak Vietnamese language at home. As Vietnamese is the official language for learning and teaching at school, children are struggling with their Vietnamese communication. Around 15% Raglai children drop out of schools. Achievements This section highlights the improvements made during the course of the joint project implementation by the MOET, AeA and the commune. Noted changes are as follows: School Enrolment Number of Children Total Boys Girls The number of children enrolled in school shows an increasing trend - 72 children (2005), 82 children (2006); 80 children (2007) and 86 children (2008). During the last 7

8 three years, nearly 100% of children of 5 years of age are enrolled. The school can accommodate children of different ages. If we take the year 2007 as an example, among the 80 children enrolled, 60 of them are children aged 6 and 20 of them are either younger or older. It should be noted that the classification of children s ages is based on parents invalid information. The increase in the enrolment rate reflects the effective mobilization and efforts of the local authorities, school management boards and village chiefs. Parents Education Parents have also shown their cooperation with the school by sending their children to school more regularly. They also work with the local authorities for children s birth certificates. It also shows positive development of parents awareness and involvement in their children s education. School teachers and local social workers visit parents and children in their homes twice every two months. During the visit, they share information about children s school progress and health. The parents also have opportunities to learn about how to improve their home meals for children. Furthermore, the school also has four meetings for parents to address issues such as children s school attendance and health care at home within the school. Children s Health Using the Ministry of Education and Training health standards to measure progress in health and nutrition of children, marked changes were noted as the project progressed. In 2005, the rate was 30.6% compared to 34.4% in In 2006, the rate fell to 26.8% compared to In 2007, it was only 21.2%, a decrease of 5.6% compared to The conscious preparation of meals using highly nutritious food by the canteen staff have contributed much to the positive improvement of children s nutritional status. The kitchen not only provides children with daily meals but also ensures that the meals contain the nutrients needed for children s physical and intellectual development. Having lunch at the school, children develop good personal hygiene and sanitation practices. They know to wash their hands before a meal and to brush their teeth properly after having meals. For parents understanding of how to help their children perform those new habits at home, the school develops information notes to give to parents. In meetings with parents, the school also keeps them informed about children s hygiene practices. The local community authorities also visit the school to see the changes of children s health. In order to closely monitor the progress of the activities, the school office was moved into the school to facilitate the daily monitoring. School Infrastructure and Learning Environment During the course of the project, two new classrooms were built to accommodate the increasing number of children. The previous room is now used as the principal office. Fences are built to protect schoolchildren from falling into the ditches. The classes are well equipped with toys that are mainly made by teachers. Recreational equipment is available in the playground for children to play. A school fence to ensure children s safety was also built. To improve the school environment, 8

9 the schools also planted a lot of plants. A security guard has also been appointed to ensure the safety of the premises. Teaching and Learning Materials Using the teaching and learning aids have improved children s learning, participation and confidence in the classroom. They enjoy learning simple reading and writing tasks in Vietnamese language. The school also develops signs in Raglai language to encourage children to use their mother tongue in communication with the teacher and other children. The teachers are enthusiastic to produce a variety of teaching and learning aids using recycling papers. They develop picture charts and alphabet charts to support children s learning. The learning conditions have been improved with more toys and equipment developed. The classrooms are decorated with children s drawings. Resource books and learning materials developed by teachers also contribute to children s learning quality. Children s social integration It was observed that before the project, Raglai children s communication with teachers and other children from the Kinh group was limited. Children s poor language skills, low confidence and a lack of communication skills were key issues affecting their social integration. Raglai parents cultural practices and living conditions also contributed to their children s poor social integration into the school and local environment. With the implementation of more active approaches to the teaching and learning of the pre-schooling curriculum, the project has positively impacted the process of socializing children into activities within and outside the classrooms. According to the project school board, Raglai children have been actively participating in most activities and teachers observed increasing self confidence and participation in the classroom. The improvement of children s health and physical conditions also contributed to their overall development in this regard. Key Lessons and Best Practices Looking back at the joint partnership experience, the Department of Education and Training, Office of Early Childhood Care and Education, Aide et Action and its local partners were able to determine the need to continue the project partnership to support the on-going "minority" initiative in early childhood care and education and primary schooling in Suoi Cat commune. Further to the monitoring of the project, it was defined that one key objective is to facilitate an increase of enrolment of ethnic minority children in basic primary education in support of the government s policy to achieve the objective of Education for All. Impacts of the Project 1. Change in parents attitude about importance of education for their children 2. Awareness on the value of early childhood care and education; 3. Increasing net enrolment rates in early childhood education of Raglai children; 4. Increasing net primary enrolment rates of Raglai children; 9

10 5. Successful integration of children into primary school 6. Children's health is significantly improved; 7. Development of interests of stakeholders from different departments 8. The political and educational authorities are concerned. 9. Media attention to the success of the project implementation Overall, the project resulted to greater awareness among parents of their needed support to their children s education and health status, awareness on the importance of good nutrition to children indicated by the regular monitoring of the school management board and local authorities on the preparation of meals for children. There is regular monitoring of children's health by the school and local clinic, with the participation of parents, teachers and local authorities. A system was created for recording children s school performance and health, these records are accessible to parents and other interested authorities; and a school monthly report is submitted to AeA and the Bureau of Education and Training of Cam Lam. Lastly, a book on lessons learned is developed for the local authorities, other schools in and outside the districts to share and expand the experiences. Key factors that facilitated achievements of project objectives 1. The project addresses the local need of the community, i.e., support to preschooling of ethnic minority children, as identified mostly by the residents: Preliminary survey was developed by the Department of Education and Training, Khanh Hoa and Area s representatives; Preparation of birth certificate and others papers for children; Construction of two classrooms, kitchen and sanitation facilities; 2. Clarity of partnership and roles between the supporting organization (AeA) and the Department of Education and Training with the participation of the local partners and parents in the community right from the conceptualization of the project. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with authorities of Khanh Hoa province and Cam Lam district; The Department of Education and Training of Khanh Hoa province and the Bureau of Education and Training of Cam Lam district are the main partners in the implementation of the project activities. The offices of Early Childhood Care and Education of these two departments are closely working with the project; The District People's Committee provides financial support and policy guidance to the project. They also support the coordination with other relevant agents for the effective implementation of the project activities; Aide et Action provides technical advice on the implementation of the project. The organization is also funding, monitoring and evaluating activities during the course of the project. 3. Awareness raising and training of stakeholders involved in the project Training of the management team at the provincial and district level followed by recruitment of staff of two communities; 10

11 Awareness propaganda for Raglai parents; Training of kindergarten teachers Training of staff in good nutrition and proper food preparation 4. Conduct of regular monitoring of the project with focus of impact to children and their educational processes A monthly progress report is prepared that highlights detailed information about the school facility and environment, children s learning performances and impact on health and nutrition, language, etc. These reports are shared with parents and local authorities in order for them to determine further needed support to enhance effective implementation. Community workers regularly visit the families to discuss emerging issues like health, absences and school attendance of children, parents participation and counterpart roles at home and other concerns. The health status of each child is carefully registered in the school monitoring system and likewise reported to the project management committees and partner organization (AeA). Local authorities at the commune level, closely monitor and supervise Raglai households about proper childcare and protection etc Other Challenges and Opportunities The difficult economic situation of Raglai people was seen as an initial risk to the sustainability of the project. The problem has been discussed with the school management board, the Department of Education and Training, the Bureau of Education and Training of Cam Lam. The stakeholders are working to find out practical solutions to support the poor Raglai parents. Only one teacher is able to speak Raglai language at the school. This teacher is present based on the experience gained during the Project on Primary Education for Disadvantaged Children implemented by the Ministry of Education and Training is considered for this situation. Following the experience of this project, it is clear that having a local teacher assistant recruited from Raglai community provides effective support to children s communication in their mother tongue as well as the learning of Vietnamese language. From the success of the project can be extracted an effective and successful model for the local stakeholders to expand early childhood care and education into other schools. The target schools have even developed a plan to maintain the implementation of the model when the project ends. Provision of quality education to any disadvantaged group like the Raglai minority children has been identified as extremely important by the Vietnam government. However, barriers formed by lack of resources, socio-demographic issues, culture, lack of access to information, inappropriate beliefs and practices among minorities are challenges through time. From the beginning of the project, it was clear that positive improvements can only take place slowly and gradually. This project has transformed the understanding of parents and local authorities at different levels of 11

12 good early childhood care and education. One key factor which led to the overcoming of difficulties was the motivation of the authorities and the community. The project has established a good model on how to prepare pre-school program for ethnic children. As a result, the stakeholders are considering sustaining the project success after its completion at the end of References Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam Education Law Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam s Education for All Action Plan Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam s Education Development Plan for Ministry of Education and Training, UNICEF, UNESCO, 2008 The transition of ethnic minority girls from primary to secondary education. Ministry of Planning and Investment, 03/2006 Vietnam s five-year socio-economic development plan, UNESCO, 2008 Education for All by 2008: Will we make it?. VNS, 2008 Bid to boost ethnic pupils literacy. The World Bank, 12/2004 Reading and Mathematics, Assessment Study. Biography Nationality: Vietnamese Languages: Vietnamese, French and English Title at Aide et Action, Vietnam: Project Coordinator Work History: June Present: Aide et Action : Assistant to the Director of Mission, Children Rights Project and Project Officer with Doctor Without Borders, Belgium : Interpreter and Project Officer with Enfants et Developpement 12