The drafting of a Resolution on support policies for students studying at ethnic minority boarding schools and schools with centralized accommodation and meals for boarding students in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the province has been implemented by the Department of Education and Training in 2023.
Entering 2024, to complete the draft, on February 20, the Department of Education and Training continued to send documents and materials to the Committee for Culture and Society - Provincial People's Council; Provincial Fatherland Front Committee; relevant departments, branches and districts, cities and towns to collect comments. One of those documents pointed out the difficult and inadequate situation of education in remote and mountainous areas, affirming that "there is inequality in education eroding the motivation of young people to strive".
Specifically, according to the Department of Education and Training, in recent years, the province has issued many specialized resolutions; many important guidelines and policies to develop and improve the quality of education and training in particularly difficult areas such as Resolution No. 57/2016/NQ-HDND dated December 16, 2016; Resolution No. 10/2019/NQ-HDND dated July 12, 2019; Resolution No. 31/2020/NQ-HDND dated December 13, 2020... However, the quality of education between regions in the province still has a large 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 have not yet met the requirements for care, nurturing, and education; Accommodation and meals for students in schools with ethnic minority boarding students are still lacking; the policies for students, teachers and staff still have some shortcomings; 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.
On the other hand, the State's policies for students in schools with ethnic minority boarding students basically meet the minimum requirements nationwide. However, each locality has its own characteristics, so in the implementation process, it is inevitable that there will be difficulties, problems, and shortcomings that the State's legal documents cannot cover all arising from practice.
Therefore, in order to achieve the goal of making Nghe An education the leader in the North Central region according to Resolution No. 03-NQ/TU, dated November 19, 2021; Project on developing education in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in Nghe An province, period 2022-2025 with orientation to 2030 according to Decision No. 3279/QD-UBND dated October 24, 2022 of the Provincial People's Committee, the issuance of a Resolution of the Provincial People's Council on regulations on support policies for students studying at ethnic minority boarding schools and schools with centralized accommodation and meals for boarding students in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in Nghe An province is extremely necessary and urgent.
Also in this document, the Department of Education and Training proposed to provide one-time in-kind support for students at each level, including blankets, mosquito nets and other personal items; each school year, students are provided with 2 sets of uniforms and school supplies, notebooks, paper, pens and other learning tools. The support aims to create conditions for students to have the opportunity to go to school, reduce economic pressure on the student's family; students are provided with one-time in-kind support such as blankets, mosquito nets and other personal items to study with peace of mind, reduce the situation of students dropping out of school due to family economic difficulties, increase the rate of student mobilization in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions, contribute to the development of general education equally among regions, firmly maintain and improve the results of universal primary education, universal secondary education.
In addition, it is proposed to support funding for pilot schools of the new model of boarding schools for ethnic minorities, with a maximum of 6 periods/week and no more than 35 weeks/school year; support funding for additional purchases and repairs of dining and kitchen utensils; support funding for building shared textbook cabinets so that each student can borrow a set of books corresponding to each class that the student is attending; support funding for making student cards and personal badges, enrollment at the beginning of the school year, final exams; support funding for paying for electricity and water for studying and living for boarding students at the school; the support level is 12kW of electricity/month/student and 2m3water/month/student according to local regulations and enjoyed for no more than 9 months/school year...
It is known that from around October 2023 to present, the Social and Cultural Committee - Provincial People's Council together with relevant departments, branches and districts, cities and towns have contributed many ideas to the development of support policies for students studying at ethnic minority boarding schools and schools that organize meals and accommodation for boarding students in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. In general, all recognize that this is a necessary content to implement.
Most recently, on March 14, 2024, the Department of Justice issued Document No. 421/STP-VB with comments, affirming: “Currently, the policy for students in schools with ethnic minority boarding students has been given attention and focus by the Party, State and province. However, the majority of students living in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the province still have difficult and deprived economic lives. Therefore, it is necessary to advise on the promulgation of support policies for students at ethnic minority boarding schools and schools with accommodation and meals, focusing on boarding students in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in Nghe An province”.
Also agreeing to build a policy Resolution regulating support policies for students studying at ethnic minority boarding schools, but with the Department of Finance, in Document No. 684/STC-NSHX dated March 1, 2024, stating the fact that the provincial budget resources are still difficult, to get more opinions: "According to the drafter's estimate, the annual budget demand for implementing the policy is about 30 - 50 billion VND and increases gradually every year. However, currently the provincial budget resources are still difficult, so it will not be balanced to implement the policies as proposed by the Department of Education and Training. The Department of Finance requests the Department of Education and Training to balance and rearrange the expenditure tasks; review and reconsider the inclusion in the resolution outline of the really necessary policies; coordinate with the Department of Finance to submit an allocation within the scope of education and training expenditure resources arranged for the sector in 2024 and the following years, within its capacity The provincial budget balance increases budget expenditure within a maximum range of 10 billion VND/year".
Speaking to Nghe An Newspaper, Ms. Luc Thi Lien - Deputy Head of the Department of Culture and Society - Provincial People's Council, said: "According to the plan, the draft resolution will be submitted to the Provincial People's Council at the end of 2023 meeting, however, due to the lack of preparation of relevant documents, the drafting agency has withdrawn. This year, according to the plan approved by the Provincial People's Council, the draft resolution will be submitted to the Provincial People's Council delegates at the mid-year meeting. The Department of Culture and Society and the Provincial People's Council recognize this as a very necessary content, aiming to support the implementation of boarding for students in remote areas, especially difficult areas in mountainous districts, so they support the development of this resolution...".