The driving force for the transformation of ethnic minority education

According to statistics from the Department of Education and Training, the province currently has 15 district-level secondary boarding schools for ethnic minorities, 2 provincial-level high schools for ethnic minorities, and 6 primary and secondary boarding schools for ethnic minorities. This is a special education system serving exclusively the children of ethnic minorities and families living in areas with special socio-economic difficulties.

With resources of nearly 173 billion VND allocated from the National Target Program (NTP) 1719, many boarding and semi-boarding schools for ethnic minorities in the province have been invested in building new ones or upgrading facilities and teaching equipment; supported to innovate teaching methods, associated with the languages ​​and cultures of ethnic groups, gradually improving the quality of comprehensive education. Thanks to that, it has contributed to raising the rate of schools meeting national standards in the province to 62%.

A class at Ea Yong Secondary School (Krong Pac district).

One of the bright spots is N'Trang Long Ethnic Boarding High School (Buon Ma Thuot City). In the 2024-2025 school year, the school has 18 classes with 554 students from 21 different ethnic groups. Not only are they supported with food, accommodation and transportation, students here also have access to modern teaching methods, designed to suit traditional cultural characteristics. Mr. Bui Xuan Le, Principal of the school, said that the school's core task is to improve the quality of mass education and key education. The school constantly improves teaching methods, promotes the effectiveness of specialized education for ethnic minority students, and at the same time promotes education on traditional ethnic culture. Thanks to that innovation and determination, in the 2023-2024 school year, the graduation rate of grade 12 students reached 100%; Many students achieved high scores (in the top 10 of the province in graduation exams) and were admitted to universities and colleges across the country.

The special feature of N'Trang Long Ethnic Boarding High School is that the preservation and promotion of national cultural identity always goes hand in hand with intellectual education. The school has proactively invited artisans and cultural researchers to teach knowledge and skills in gong playing, xoang dancing and other typical cultural forms to teachers and students. Up to now, the school has established 2 gong teams and has been supported with 2 sets of bronze gongs, 2 sets of bamboo gongs, and nearly 100 traditional costumes for the gong team members to maintain their practice. The school has also established a gong club, creating a "playground" and contributing to nurturing the love of national culture in the young generation.

In Cu M'gar district, Cu M'gar Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities is also a model for combining modern education and preserving ethnic culture. With more than 150 students, of whom about 70% are Ede, the school pays special attention to preserving the language and cultural identity of the ethnic group. Ms. Vuong Thi Huong, Vice Principal of the school, shared: "In addition to imparting knowledge, we always teach students to respect their mother tongue, understand and preserve their ethnic identity. That is also a part of comprehensive education."

The school has established a traditional musical instrument club and taught students how to play traditional musical instruments; organized weekly flag-raising activities with the theme of national culture to make them more proud of their roots. In addition, students here are also encouraged to participate in science and technology competitions, start-ups associated with preserving and promoting traditional cultural values. In the 2023-2024 school year, the school had two award-winning products at the district level. The project "Preserving and promoting the Ede ethnic identity through a bilingual comic book in Vietnamese - Ede" by the school's students won second prize at the provincial level (held in January 2024), becoming a vivid demonstration of the combination of modern knowledge and traditional values.

Students of N'Trang Long Ethnic Minority High School participate in the school's art competition. Photo provided by N'Trang Long Ethnic Minority High School.

Not only focusing on the school system, Project 5 of the National Target Program 1719 also focuses on expanding access to education for the community. Up to now, Dak Lak province has organized 7 literacy classes for people in 6 remote communes; 16 ethnic knowledge training classes for over 1,700 officials, civil servants and public employees; 4 ethnic minority language training classes with over 200 students.

In addition, the program also expanded vocational training support, career counseling, and employment support with thousands of participants. Over 30 vocational training classes were organized, more than 2,400 students and vocational education teachers were consulted on starting a business, contributing to the formation of a generation of skilled ethnic minority workers, ready to meet the requirements for local socio-economic development.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/xa-hoi/202504/chuong-trinh-1719-dong-luc-de-giao-duc-vung-dan-toc-thieu-so-chuyen-minh-6a41731/