06 January 2010
For Tráng Mí Lồng, the day starts very early.
The 20 year-old knocks on the doors of the houses of school-age children in his village in Ha Giang - in a remote, mountainous province of Vietnam - before they begin a three-kilometre walk to school.
That might mean muddy tracks or crossing a stream and regular flooding makes it a dangerous prospect.
Thanks to DFID -funding, Lồng is the children’s escort to and from school where their homes were once too remote for them to travel.
More importantly, he is a crucial link in getting children from Vietnam’s 53 ethnic minority groups into the classroom.
Chi Pang, a mother in the area, said: “I used to be very reluctant to send my daughter Mi to school as it was not secure for her to travel such a long distance, especially during bad weather.
“But as Lồng comes to pick her up in the morning and return her by lunch time, she is much safer now."
“And now the lessons are easier with Lồng’s intervention", Mi added.
Lồng is one of 7,000 bilingual teaching assistants (TA) recruited across 226 of the most disadvantaged districts, under the primary education for disadvantaged children (PEDC)
He stays to help the teacher with lessons – all conducted in Vietnamese - using bilingual books with local language and culture to increase the children's learning.
DFID is the biggest grant donor to the PEDC programme which is helping boost pupil numbers and achievement for children from ethnic minorities at a time when they are lagging behind general standards.
Farms and communities in mountainous areas can be isolated and children find it difficult to make it to school on their own.
The TA’s initiative has brought better access, higher enrolment, more regular attendance, and fewer drop-outs in all project districts.
It has also seen students achieve better results, particularly in language and mathematics.
Key facts and stats
- Together with other donors, DFID has provided support to PEDC programme from 2003 until 2009, with a total funding of £26 million pounds.
- The programme is to help improve access to primary school and the quality of education for disadvantaged girls and in 126 most disadvantaged districts in Vietnam.
- So far the programme has built 14,000 new classrooms and renovated 3,300 classrooms.
- 120,000 teachers have been trained in active learning, second language learning methods and specialised skills for inclusive education.
- 7000 bilingual teaching assistants have been recruited and trained.
- Parent-teacher associations (PTA) established at all 18,000 school sites where 270,000 PTA personnel have been trained on the use of the Campus Support Fund.
- A range of teaching materials supporting language development have been provided to all main school and satellite sites.
- School managers have been trained to collect and analyse school data, including data on children with learning difficulties and disabilities, develop school plans to reach the fundamental school quality levels and to improve student achievement.
- 125 innovation grants have been awarded to address the needs of disabled children, street children, minority girls and other very high risk children's groups.