English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

CEDAW and the Law:
disabled and handicapped people with economic difficulties, and people who
overcome their exceptional economic difficulties to gain excellent study results;
Article 90 provides that students from areas meeting with extraordinary socioeconomic
difficulties will be enrolled by the State into colleges, universities or
professional secondary schools through nomination to train officials and public
employees for these areas. The State will set aside nomination quotas for this
purpose. The provincial-level People’s Committees will propose nomination quotas,
allocate nomination quotas according to appropriate fields and disciplines, send the
selected persons for study, and assign jobs to the nominees after their graduation;
Article 91 states that preferential credit policies regarding interest rates will be
adopted by the State to enable learners from low-income families to study;
Article 92 provides that students will enjoy charge reduction or exemption when
using public services in transportation, entertainment and visits to museums,
historical relics and cultural works.
Although these provisions open up opportunities for ethnic minorities, there is a need
for further guidance on implementation of these provisions generally and along gendersensitive
lines. An assessment carried out on the situation of education affecting women and
children of ethnic minorities in five provinces (Lai Chau, Ha Giang, Kon Tum, Nghe An and
Soc Trang) pointed to areas requiring further attention, including: (a) a chronic shortage of
classroom space; (b) a lack of dormitory space in boarding schools resulting in students living
in temporary bamboo shelters; (c) very high drop-out rates compared to the national average,
and drop-out rates for girls were almost twice as high; 423 (d) prolonged absences, especially
for traditional festivals, celebrations and customary rituals; (e) women aged over 30 years had
only completed third grade and majority of the women aged above 40 years were illiterate; and
(f) a lack of textbooks and notebooks. 424
202
The Committee for Ethnic Minorities Assessment also showed that, although students
were not made to pay school fees as part of a government program for ethnic minorities, their
families had to make small contribution to school upgrades and pay annual fees. 425 If these
are not paid, students can be held back from higher grades or drop out because of shame.
The Committee for Ethnic Minorities Assessment also pointed out that, although priority
admission to universities, colleges and technical training schools was granted to students from
disadvantaged areas, places were awarded based on an emphasis on availability and quality
of student applications. 426 In 2001, for example, the number of students granted places was
less than the number of places allocated for almost all provinces. There was lack of
423
Several reasons were provided for the high drop out rates including: (a) taking children out of school to help with farming
duties or household chores; (b) nomadic nature of child’s family; (c) large family with other sibling already attending
school; (d) feeling of embarrassment when they are much older than their classmates; (e) not enough warm clothes
for winter; and (d) cannot afford boat fares. As for girls, some parents see school as an obstacle to marriage, and when
boys spend time for temples retreats between 3 months to 3 year, girls are made to stop schooling to take their place
in the fields.
424
See generally, Committee for Ethnic Minorities and UNICEF, ‘Reaching out for Change: A qualitative assessment of
government healthcare and education policies affecting the women and children of ethnic minorities’, Ha Noi, 2003
(Committee for Ethnic Minorities Assessment)
425
Committee for Ethnic Minorities Assessment, p. 21
426
Ibid., p. 25
Review of key legal documents and compliance with CEDAW