UN Grants $84.6M to Develop New Model of Primary Schools in Vietnam

The Global Fund for Education of the United Nations has provided a non-refundable aid worth $84.6 million to develop a new model of primary schools in Vietnam (VNEN), state media reported on Jul 12. The model is highly appreciated and supported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank (WB). The VNEN project will be carried out at 1,447 primary schools in 63 cities and provinces across the country from 2012 till 2015. Priorities will be given to underprivileged areas. The new model targets six main features: student-centered method of learning; increasing Vietnamese language skills for students; organizing the whole day class for students; forming documents for teachers and parents; renovating ways of organizing, managing class; maintaining strategies of training and cultivating teachers and staff; and developing a close relationship between schools and community. In fact, Vietnam is struggling to reform its education sector in general and primary education in particular. Though the country’s state budget spending on the sector has increased by many times over the past years, the quality of education cannot meet the social demand and development in the region. Vietnamese curricula, especially for primary education have been for years complained for its overlapping and heaviness. Though the government has poured big investment into the curricula reform, few positive results have been made. (Dat Viet – National Land July 12 p7)