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Bilingual books help minority kids in Viet Nam

Monday, 14 April 1997: For the first time in Viet Nam, UNICEF and the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) recently published a series of bilingual "big books" in Vietnamese and ethnic minority languages (Khmer, Bahnar, Cham and H'mong) for all primary schools teaching these minorities.

The purpose of these books is to foster the enrolment of ethnic minority children in primary education. While on average 57 per cent of Vietnamese children complete primary education, the rate reaches only 40 per cent for ethnic minority children.

"For ethnic minority children in primary schools, the main problem is that teaching is done in Vietnamese while their mother tongue is not Vietnamese," says Elaine Furniss, UNICEF Education Officer. "These bilingual books will start to help teacher bridge that gap.

"Since Viet Nam has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it has to implement articles 28 and 30 of the Convention. These articles state that children have the right to education and that children belonging to minorities have the right to use their own language" she adds.

Several thousands bilingual books have been produced and will be distributed to selected schools in remote areas. To help teachers use these books in their classrooms, training workshops for teacher trainers are being organized. The books tell stories related to the daily life of ethnic minority children, such as a day at the market, the protection of the environment, and traditional clothes.

The production of these books is the first step towards more regular use of mother tongue in ethnic minority community schools, alongside Vietnamese as the national language. Lack of access to primary education is not the only disadvantage for ethnic minority children. They often live in the poorest and mountainous regions. where basic health services, water and sanitation facilities, and cultural activities are uneven in quantity and quality.

UNICEF is giving priority to ethnic minorities and has established a specific project to ensure that they, especially the children among them, have access to all basic social services. Some 210,000 ethnic minority people currently benefit from UNICEF help in improving their nutritional, educational and health status. In 1996, UNICEF assistance to ethnic minorities totalled US$245,000.

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