18.1.3 Analysis of Disparities in ECCE in Viet Nam a. Progress in Achieving Gender and Social Equality in ECCE Gender. Although the GPI seems to vary a lot from year to year, it can be concluded that gender parity has been achieved in the GER for ECCE taken as a whole, as seen in Table 203. Table 210: Minority Children Enrolled in ECCE (%), 2001/02-2005/06, Viet Nam Year 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06
% 12.4 12.0 12.9 13.5 13.8
Source: Information Centre, Planning and Finance Department, MOET, 2006.
Ethnic Minorities. In all aspects of education development in ethnic minority areas, progress has been made in quantity, school or class network, school facilities, and teacher pre-service and inservice training. In school year 2002/03, there were 208 communes without ECCE provision, and these were located in ethnic minority and very disadvantaged areas. By 2005/06, all communes had ECCE provision. In 2003/04, 12.9% of children enrolled in ECCE were ethnic minorities; by 2005/06, the figure had risen to 13.8%, as shown in Table 210. This is proportional to the distribution of the ethnic minority population in the total national population. In ethnic minority and high mountainous and isolated areas, children are provided with Vietnamese language strengthening programmes, which help prepare them for Grade 1, reduce the dropouts, and contribute to the “correct-age” universal primary education.
b. Progress in Improving Quality of ECCE The most significant progress has been the development of a new ECCE curriculum and a series of decisions related to ECCE institutions, teaching staff development, investment polices and ECCE development planning, and the clarification of responsibilities for the fulfilment of ECCE development objectives. The establishment of minimum quality standards has been especially important for children living in poor and remote areas. The level of qualifications of ECCE teachers has also risen considerably.
c. Cross-Cutting Issues and Addressing the “Unreached” Although ECCE has greatly expanded coverage, it is still mainly upper income families who send their children to pre-school.
d. Overall Progress and Best Practices for Achieving the Goal All of the ECCE targets have been achieved, and it is expected that the 2015 targets will also be achieved. Disadvantaged groups, such as poor families and families living in difficult to reach areas, girls, ethnic minority children, and those with disabilities, have received special attention due to the implementation of pro-poor policies. The ECCE policies have shown their efficiency in creating equal opportunities for children from different regions and ethnic groups, as well as ensure the encouragement of gender equity.
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