Participatory poverty monitoring in rural communities in Viet Nam
48
TABLE 1.9. Educational qualifications of women aged 18 to 40, 2007-2011 (%) Commune
Never went to school
Not having completed primary school (first level)
2007 2011 2007 2011
Having completed primary school (first level)
Having completed lower secondary school (second level)
Having completed upper secondary school (third level)
High school, college, university
2007
2011
2007
2011
2007
2011
2007 2011
Thuan Hoa
17
8
23
18
34
31
21
20
6
21
0
2
Ban Lien Thanh Xuong
35 9
35 6
34 31
22 19
20 12
24 9
9 29
17 37
2 10
2 22
0 9
0 7
Luong Minh Duc Huong
14 0
23 2
59 0
28 0
16 5
26 12
2 41
15 22
7 45
6 54
2 9
2 10
Xy
59
39
20
24
7
10
13
12
2
14
0
2
Cu Hue
13
11
25
21
34
25
15
21
9
16
4
7
Phuoc Dai
38
25
22
37
23
22
17
14
0
2
0
0
Phuoc Thanh
49
53
24
24
20
16
7
6
0
2
0
0
Thuan Hoa
4
8
42
36
27
24
18
24
7
6
2
2
Average
25
21
28
23
20
20
17
19
9
14
3
3
SOURCE: Household interviews
Persistent gender stereotypes are an important explanation for low proportion of women in authority. At most monitoring points, people still think that it is hard for women to take part in social activities and that men are more effective in leadership positions. The Committee for the Advancement of Women is not effective. The Committee for the Advancement of Women is not operational in seven of the ten communes. In the remaining three communes, the Committee only runs term-end review meetings. Its activities are considered the responsibility of the commune Women’s Union, and are not incorporate in other sectors and branches of local government. Women in local government struggle to make themselves heard. Women deputies often lack the confidence to contribute to government meetings. The Chairperson of the Ban Lien commune Women’s Union, Lao Cai province, said she rarely spoke in the commune Party Executive Committee’s meetings: ‘‘At the meetings, sitting alone with the men, I feel shy. I never raise my hand to speak and never speak for fear of saying the wrong thing. I can do everything I am told, but not speak at meetings”. Women also lack respect because they are minorities in local agencies, and very rarely hold leadership positions. Only one commune (Phuoc Dai, Nghe an) had a woman as Vice Chair of the Commune People’s Committee, and one commune (Thuan Hoa -Tra Vinh) has a women as Chair of the Commune People’s Council and Vice Chair, and only one commune (Thuan Hoa - Tra Vinh) has a woman as member of the Commune Party Executive Committee as Vice Secretary. Activities of Women’s Union Activities of the Women’s Union have seen positive changes in the last five years. At most monitoring points, membership of the Women’s Union is increasing; Women’s