Nghe An plans 60 billion VND to exempt and reduce tuition fees for students in mountainous areas.

(Baonghean) - Currently, although Decree 49 and Decree 74 have expired at the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, Nghe An still plans to spend 60 billion VND in the 2015 fiscal year to exempt and reduce tuition fees and study costs for students in mountainous areas.

About 10 years ago, Cam Muon 2 Primary School (Cam Muon Commune, Que Phong District) was one of the most disadvantaged schools in the district with 3 separate schools and very poor and makeshift facilities. For that reason, the work of mobilizing students to go to school encountered many obstacles, and parents were not interested in sending their children to school.

Every school year, teachers travel to remote villages such as Don Phat, Khe Hang, and Khe Que to encourage students to go to school. During lunch, teachers and students share bowls of rice and cassava...

Physics class of students at Tuong Duong Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities. Photo: Thanh Tung.

Since the 2010-2011 school year, when students in the school benefited from the School Quality Assurance Program (SEQAP), they were supported with lunch at school for two sessions a week. Students from poor households were entitled to tuition exemption and reduction policies according to Decision 49. Thanks to that, the school could provide boarding meals, organize two sessions a day, and students and parents no longer had to worry about the long distance, having to go back and forth four times a day, which was very tiring...

Chau Hoi Primary School (Quy Chau) has spacious learning facilities.

Poor and ethnic minority students in Que Phong are also enjoying preferential treatment in terms of tuition exemption and reduction, and support for study costs. From the 2010-2011 school year to the 2014-2015 school year, each year, the State supported over 1 billion VND in tuition exemption and reduction for preschool and secondary school students in the district; the above subjects are also supported with study costs at the rate of 70,000 VND/student/month to buy books and other supplies...

Mr. Sam Hong Le - Head of the Education Department of Que Phong district said: Thanks to the State's tuition exemption and support policy, it has become much easier to mobilize students to go to school in remote communes of the district such as Tri Le, Thong Thu, Chau Thon, etc. Parents also create more conditions for their children to go to school than before; therefore, the annual dropout rate in Que Phong has decreased significantly.

The classrooms of ethnic minority students in mountainous areas are becoming more and more spacious. Photo: Thanh Tung.

Although the provincial budget is still tight, and there are times when the funds transferred from the central government are not timely, the province still directs the Department of Finance to coordinate with the Department of Education and Training to allocate funds to districts, ensuring full payment of benefits for teachers, students and operating expenses of schools.

Currently, although Decree 49 and Decree 74 have expired at the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, Nghe An still plans to spend 60 billion VND in the 2015 fiscal year to exempt and reduce tuition fees and study costs for students in mountainous areas.

The province also promotes the implementation of the objectives of the National Target Program on Education and Training, with special attention paid to preschool education; primary education at the right age in mountainous areas and ethnic minority areas. In addition, the province annually allocates funds from the budget to strengthen facilities for ethnic minority schools, support the construction of boarding schools; balances the annual education budget to repair and renovate, and purchase teaching equipment and supplies for educational institutions.

The province has also taken advantage of many support policies in mountainous areas and ethnic minority areas to improve facilities and build schools that meet national standards. In particular, the project to solidify schools, classrooms and teachers' offices has invested 775 billion VND in 11 mountainous districts and towns, accounting for about 69% of the total government bond capital invested in Nghe An province to build more than 2,600 classrooms and 945 teachers' offices.

In addition, the system of kindergartens and primary schools in disadvantaged villages also receives investment from the Infrastructure Investment Program for Communes, Villages and Wards with Special Difficulties (Program 135); equipment and necessities for learning such as paper and pens are purchased from the National Target Program on Education and Training.

Projects using ODA capital also prioritize investment in mountainous and ethnic areas such as the Primary Education Project for Children in Difficult Circumstances invested in Tuong Duong and Que Phong districts; the Secondary Education Development Project Phase 2 invested in building classrooms for schools with special difficulties that are often affected by storms and floods...

In particular, to improve the quality of education and training in mountainous areas, effectively carry out the task of creating a source of training cadres for ethnic minorities, and at the same time create a source of training cadres with quality, the province has paid attention to building a system of ethnic boarding schools with a plan of 6 district ethnic boarding schools and 2 provincial ethnic boarding schools. The total cost of construction from 2009 to present is 143 billion VND, of which the provincial budget is 66.7 billion VND.

Leaders of the Department of Transport presented gifts to students of Keng Du Primary School, Ky Son District. Photo: Nguyen Khoa.

These efforts have made an important contribution to gradually improving the quality of education in mountainous areas. Since then, the country has successfully implemented universal primary education in 2000, universal primary education at the right age in 2005 and universal lower secondary education in 2006 and is gradually striving to complete the target of universalizing 5-year-old preschool education by the end of 2015. The rate of solid and semi-solid classrooms has reached over 80% (85% in primary schools, 94% in lower secondary schools, and 99% in high schools). The rate of schools meeting national standards has reached over 40%. The system of public housing and boarding houses in schools in particularly difficult areas has gradually met the living needs of teachers and students staying in the dormitory. The work of building a team has been focused on, with sufficient numbers, 100% meeting training standards, and the rate above standards has increased rapidly.

However, besides the achieved results, some policies in the implementation process still have many problems.

For example, in the implementation of Decision No. 85/2010/QD-TTg on support policies for boarding students and ethnic minority boarding schools. Currently, according to regulations, boarding students in the province have been supported with food and housing, etc. However, support for investment in facilities and equipment for schools has not been implemented yet. Therefore, many boarding schools (especially secondary schools) still have inadequate and poor facilities and are taking advantage of old classrooms or teachers' public housing.

Facilities such as housing, beds, kitchens, dining rooms, bathrooms, toilets, clean water facilities and other facilities for boarding students have not been guaranteed. Most boarding schools are still operating under the form of socialization from contributions from parents and benefactors.

The system of ethnic minority secondary schools is still not complete even though it has been in operation for many years. Currently, of the 6 schools in the province, only Tuong Duong Secondary School has completed all the items, the rest are unfinished; of which, Que Phong Secondary School is having to borrow facilities from Que Phong High School for teaching. Quy Hop, Quy Chau, and Ky Son Secondary Schools are having to reuse the facilities of the town's primary school which are degraded and severely damaged; Con Cuong Secondary School is currently having to temporarily study at Bong Khe Secondary School...

The above reality requires that in the coming time, the implementation of policies for mountainous students needs to receive more attention and investment.

My Ha - Dinh Nguyet