Regarding the content related to the policy of supporting schools with ethnic minority boarding students in the province, Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training had an open discussion with reporters of Nghe An Newspaper. From the beginning, he talked about the disadvantages of ethnic minorities in the province. That Nghe An province has many mountainous districts, with a very large population of ethnic minorities, not inferior to the northern mountainous provinces such as Lao Cai, Yen Bai ... However, Nghe An is not recognized as a mountainous province, so it does not enjoy the same policies as mountainous provinces. This is a disadvantage for ethnic minorities in the province, and of course their children also suffer.
Similar to the analysis of the District Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Council of Tuong Duong District Nguyen Van Hai (mentioned in the previous article), Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh recognized that current policies have some shortcomings. For example, Decision No. 861/QD-TTg on zoning ethnic minorities and mountainous areas in 2021 - 2025 has caused a part of the people to not enjoy social insurance support policies, a part of the students are no longer supported with monthly rice. Or like the implementation of the National Target Program on New Rural Construction, right after the commune meets the new rural standards, the people are no longer entitled to health insurance support, the students are not entitled to the policies of Decree 116/ND-CP...
The Director of the Department of Education and Training analyzed: “Thanks to the investment of the State along with the material contributions and labor of the people, the commune and village have met the new rural standards. However, even though the commune and village have met the new rural standards with spacious roads, newly built schools, clinics, etc., the economic life of the people has not really changed. Therefore, cutting support policies for the people, especially for ethnic minorities in the highlands, is not appropriate. There should be a roadmap, either 5 years or 3 years, for the people to adapt, doing so will lose the motivation to strive…”.
The Director of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province acknowledged that in the mountainous districts of the province, the distance from home to school for students is generally very far, through many steep passes, rivers and streams, which is very difficult. High school students have an even harder time because each district has only 1-2 high schools located in the central area. The school no longer has a boarding system, so there is no other way for students to rent a house, which leads to many disadvantages. Therefore, implementing boarding or semi-boarding schools is extremely necessary. With boarding or semi-boarding schools, students have the advantage of not having to travel too much, and are managed by the school. In high schools in the mountainous areas, the proportion of teachers from the lowlands accounts for the majority, the majority is 50% or more. Teachers from the lowlands who go to the highlands to teach live in the school's public housing, which is very convenient for tutoring students in studying and practicing skills. The students themselves, including many different ethnic minorities, when living in boarding and semi-boarding environments, will participate in art clubs, sports, and cultural exchanges to change and eliminate backward customs...
According to Director of the Department of Education and Training Thai Van Thanh, because the current policy has shortcomings leading to many difficulties for localities, to solve the difficulties, localities need to develop policies with their own characteristics. For Nghe An province, in 2021, Resolution No. 03 - NQ/TU of the Provincial Party Committee on improving the quality of comprehensive education in Nghe An province for the period 2021 - 2025 was issued. To implement Resolution No. 03 - NQ/TU, in October 2022, the Provincial People's Committee issued a Project on developing education in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. In this Project, solutions were proposed to build and implement a new model of primary and secondary schools for ethnic minorities; piloting a high school for ethnic minority boarding schools.
However, to implement the Project and deploy a new type of boarding school, schools will need human resources to serve and cook for students; need human resources to do student management work; in addition, there will be additional electricity and water bills... Therefore, it is necessary to develop policies so that schools can receive financial support to pay for the department to serve and cook for students; for teachers to do student management work; to pay for electricity and water bills...
“Only by developing support policies can we implement the new type of ethnic boarding schools. Therefore, this is a very important content. Recently, the Department of Education and Training has been actively advising the Provincial People's Council to issue this Resolution…” – Prof. Dr. Thai Van Thanh emphasized.
During the process of implementing this series of articles, Nghe An Newspaper reporters had access to the draft of the Proposal to develop a Resolution on support policies for schools with ethnic minority boarding students in the province from the provincial Department of Education and Training.
The draft highlights the viewpoints of the Party, the State and the province on education and on ethnic minority areas, remote areas, and areas with special difficulties; and clarifies the legal basis for building the Resolution. At the same time, with the understanding and dedication of those working in education management, they frankly acknowledged: “The quality of education between regions in the province still has a big difference; facilities and equipment are still difficult, especially in remote areas, areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions with many ethnic minorities. Schools and classrooms are not guaranteed, the requirements for care, nurturing, and education; the accommodation and meals of students in schools with ethnic minority boarding students are still lacking; the regime for students, teachers, and staff still has some shortcomings; the inequality in access to educational services is increasing. Inequality in education erodes the motivation of young people to strive, reduces the dynamism of social mobility, and is the source of social instability”. Thereby affirming that "the issuance of the Resolution of the Provincial People's Council on regulations on support policies for students, teachers and staff of schools with ethnic minority boarding students (students enjoying support policies according to Decree No. 116/2016/ND-CP dated July 18, 2016 of the Government) in Nghe An province is extremely necessary and urgent"; and this is "concretizing the province's policy on developing education and training".
Regarding the policy to support students, teachers, and staff of schools with ethnic minority boarding students in the province, the draft outlines 3 groups that need support. Including: group of content to support schools; group of content to support teachers and staff; group of content to support students.
For the group of school support contents, including financial support to pay for teaching enhanced programs for schools piloting the new model of boarding schools for ethnic minorities; financial support to equip online classrooms, STEM; support for electricity and water bills.
The group of support contents for teachers and staff includes financial support for hiring cooks for schools with ethnic minority boarding students of 150 or more; financial support for general schools that organize cooking and accommodation for ethnic minority boarding students (except for ethnic minority boarding general schools) and for teachers and staff assigned with the additional task of managing ethnic minority boarding students.
And finally, the group of support contents for students, specifically supporting meals for high school students studying at schools with ethnic minority boarding students whose parents or guardians have permanent residence in communes, villages, and hamlets in Region III converted to communes, villages, and hamlets in Region I when Decision No. 861/QD-TTg dated June 4, 2021 of the Prime Minister and Decision No. 612/QDUBDT dated September 16, 2021 of the Ethnic Committee or Decisions of competent authorities take effect (the support level gradually decreases from 30% of the basic salary/month/student, starting from the 2023-2024 school year, to 10% of the basic salary/month/student and ending in the 2025-2026 school year; the support period is based on actual study time, not exceeding 9 months/school year).
As one of the officials participating in the drafting, and said by the Director of the Department of Education and Training Thai Van Thanh that he “has a deep understanding of the ethnic minority region”, Mr. Nguyen Hong Hoa – Head of the Primary Education Department of the Department of Education and Training, former Head of the Department of Education and Training of Ky Son fully explained to us the reasons leading to the Ministry of Education and Training issuing Decision No. 49/2008/QD-BGDDT. According to Mr. Nguyen Hong Hoa, education work at each stage has changes; with the unique characteristics of the province, it is different now, there needs to be changes. He also honestly said: “If I were a parent in a mountainous district with a child of high school age, I would not dare let my child stay in a rented room…”. At the same time, he expressed his wish: We do not hide the reality of high school education in mountainous districts, the reality of students having to live in dilapidated rented rooms to pass the final step of general education. I hope this situation will be spoken out so that all levels, departments and branches can unite with the Department of Education and Training to advise the Provincial People's Council to issue a Resolution regulating support policies for students, teachers and staff of schools with ethnic minority boarding students...
Listening to the Provincial People's Council, it is known that the Committee for Culture and Society has contributed comments to the draft outline of the Resolution on the policy to support students, teachers and staff of schools with ethnic minority boarding students. At the same time, the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council has also issued a Notice of assignment to prepare the content of the regular meeting at the end of 2023 of the 18th Provincial People's Council, term 2021 - 2026; in which, the Department of Education and Training is assigned to prepare the content of the "Resolution regulating the content and expenditure levels for piloting new-style boarding schools in the province". As officials of the Committee for Culture and Society of the Provincial People's Council who are close to and dedicated to the cause of education in mountainous areas, Mr. Chu Duc Thai - Head of the Committee and Ms. Luc Thi Lien - Deputy Head of the Committee agreed that this is a very necessary and suitable content, aiming to support the implementation of boarding for students in remote areas, especially difficult areas of mountainous districts. As Deputy Head of the Department of Culture and Society, Ms. Luc Thi Lien shared: “To ensure that the work of drafting the Resolution is in accordance with regulations and of high quality, the Department of Culture and Society has some suggestions for the outline of the Resolution. In particular, it is noted that the drafting agency, the Department of Education and Training, needs to review the policies of the Central Government and the province to avoid duplication and overlap of policies. We think that, although the province still has many difficulties, it will try to implement it…”.
