Photo: TT
Disadvantaged children have been given more opportunities to access education as 6,000 schools, with 18,000 classrooms, have been built in 40 provinces under the Primary Education for Disadvantaged Children project (PEDC).

This was announced by senior specialist in education Nguyen Thanh Binh from the World Bank, at the start of a 10-day inspection campaign on May 19.

She said the project is making progress as it has already helped to improve the quality of teaching in the most difficult schools. The project’s sustainability has been ensured with commitments from the Government and the Ministry of Education and Training, to uphold the project’s basic quality standards in materials, teaching staff and educational environment for primary schools in disadvantaged areas.

PEDC Executive Manager Dang Tu An said that the project has employed 7,050 extra teaching assistants, mostly from the ethnic minority groups who are playing an active role in encouraging the children to go to school.

The project has so far disbursed the entire grant budget, 65 percent of loans and 67 percent of the Government’s committed financial contributions, he concluded.

To ensure equality, the WB has invited donors, including the Canadian and Danish embassies, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the UK Department for International Development to take part in the inspections.

They will pay field-trips to the most disadvantaged provinces, representing the three regions of the country, namely the northern mountainous province of Bac Kan, the central province of Quang Binh and the southern province of Dong Thap.

Source: VOV