Challenges to Rural Poverty Reduction in Viet Nam - Oxfam Blogs

Five-year Synthesis Report
Part 2: Challenges to Rural Poverty Reduction in Viet Nam
BOX 6.1. Ha Giang’s additional support to semi-boarding students
Ha Giang is a northern mountainous province with strong deployment of the semiboarding
education model. Ha Giang has its own support policies which are better
than the national policies.
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In December 2010, the Prime Minister issued Decision 85/2010/QD - TTg
to support students in ethnic minorities’ semi-boarding schools in specially
disadvantaged areas, with the meal allowance equalling to 40% of the minimum
salary, and housing support equal to 10% of the minimum salary, provided for no
more than nine months per student.
In July 2011, Ha Giang People’s Council issued a Resolution 22/2011/NQ-HDND
on supporting semi-boarding students not supported under Decision 85/2010/QD-
TTg. Accordingly, Ha Giang province supports semi-boarding students from ethnic
minorities and disadvantaged areas:
• Supporting upper secondary students from ethnic minorities, from
disadvantaged and specially disadvantaged areas who are semi-boarding at
public schools, with meal allowance equal to 20% of the minimum wage and the
accommodation allowance of 10% of the minimum wage.
• Supporting primary students and lower secondary students from ethnic
minorities, from disadvantaged and specially disadvantaged areas who are semiboarding
at public schools, with meal allowance equal to 20% of the minimum
wage.
The Resolution also provides support for staff managing semi-boarding students
(30% of the minimum wage) and staff supporting semi-boarding students (100% of
the minimum wage).
Out of school children.
The proportion of primary school age children out of school is low (Table 6.1).
All children attend first grade. The ratio of “out of school” 29 boys to girls is equal at most
monitoring points. In some cases more boys are out of school.
The percentage of out of school children at the lower secondary education age
is high, and even increasing at upper secondary education age at some monitoring
points. Most children who quit do so after leaving primary school, or between lower
secondary and upper secondary level. In disadvantaged mountainous ethnic minority
areas, only 20-30% of students stay on until upper secondary school (Ban Lien - Lao Cai,
Luong Minh - Nghe An, Phuoc Dai - Ninh Thuan and Phuoc Thanh - Ninh Thuan).
In some areas attendance rates are low, particularly during floods, local festivals and
harvests. Some children also support their parents on the family farm, or by taking care
of younger siblings.
29 “Out of school children” are children who have never gone to school or have quit school. The education
sector only collects statistic of children quitting schools in the middle of education (compare the number of
entries and exits) so the number of “out of school children” here may be higher than that of the education
sector.