Hanoi (VNA) - Thenumber of out-of-school children aged from five to 14 has fallen significantly,particularly among five-year-old pre-primary children.

This was one of the mainfindings of the Out-of-school Children: Vietnam Country Study2016 released on January 23 by the Ministry of Education and Training(MOET) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

According to the study, thepercentage of ethnic children who have never attended school or who dropped outin 2014 was significantly lower than in 2009. The Khmer and the Mong madesignificant progress over the five-year period, but they still had the highestout-of-school rates of all the ethnic groups.

The study also showed alarge disparity in the out-of-school rates for the poorest and the richesthouseholds. The difference increased with the level of education. Forfive-year-olds, the percentage of out-of-school children from the pooresthouseholds was three times higher than those from the richest households. Thisdifference increased to 5.5 times higher for children of primary school age and10 times higher for the children of lower secondary school age.

Children of primary andlower secondary school age in rural areas were more disadvantaged than those inurban areas in all regions, especially children in the rural parts of themountainous Northern Midlands and the Central Highlands.  Migrant groupsconsistently perform worse than non-migrant groups and the difference alsoincreases with age.

Migrant families have ahigher rate of out-of-school children than non-migrant families, specifically1.2 times at the age of five, 1.6 times at primary school age and 1.7 times atlower secondary age.

The study analyses barriersand bottlenecks from both the demand side – children and their parents - andthe supply side, including the education system as well as other relatedagencies at all levels.

Demand-side economicbarriers were associated with poverty which restricted affordability ofeducation. Supply-side barriers concern bottlenecks related to infrastructureand resources, teachers, education management and other systemic issues, suchas learning programme, data system, governance, capacity and financing mechanism.


Nguyen Thi Nghia, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, said Vietnam hasmade significant progress in universalisation of primary and lower secondaryeducation and has achieved Millennium Development Goals in education. Thecountry is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals in Education.

She said in this context,the report provided evidence that helped improve policy, legislation andeducation management to overcome the barriers and ensure that the right toeducation was realised for all children.

Yoshimi Nishino, UNICEF Vietnamacting deputy representative, said: “Given the disparities that remain, Istrongly encourage the Ministry of Education and Training, provincialDepartments of Education and Training, related ministries and developmentpartners to make the best use of this valuable dataset and to translate theanalysis into critical policy revisions.”

The report recommends thatmore supportive policies should be implemented for poor students, ethnicminority students and concerned agencies should create good conditions formigrant ones.

It said the system ofkindergartens and primary schools should be expanded in poor remoteareas. 

Issues related to childrenshould be incorporated into socio-economic development plans from the centralto grassroots levels.

The report utilised thedata from the Intercensal Population and Housing Survey 2014 as the singlesource of data. The report provides a national analysis with more in-depthanalysis for six provinces, including Lao Cai, Ninh Thuan, Kon Tum, HCM City,Dong Thap and An Giang.-VNA