Gov’t to Invest More in Education in Central Highland Region

The Vietnamese government has decided to uplift the living standards of the people of ethnic minority groups in the central highland region by providing more educational facilities from 2011-2015. The government plans to invest more in education and vocational training courses so that by 2015 most of the districts in the highlands and mountainous areas in the region will have boarding schools and 96 percent of the ethnic minority children from the age of five can have access to good educational facilities and learn the Vietnamese language and culture from an early age. By 2015 many more, better and regular education facilities and community studying centers will be set up in communes to eradicate illiteracy amongst people above the age of 15. Two more universities including one private school and four colleges will be established in the region by 2015. As the average percentage of people entering universities is very low in the highland region, the government wants to raise this ratio to 180 students in every 10,000. It also wants to raise the number of ethnic minority students to 20 percent by 2015. (saigon-gpdaily.com.vn Nov 04)