Schooling for the most underprivilidged children is the number one priority for AVE association.
Fighting poverty
Education is one of the main conditions for a good development of girls and boys in order for them to achieve their full potential. It is provided by school and acts as one of the main levers to stop the cycle of poverty. Sending children to school means giving them the opportunity to choose the job they wish to have ; it means offering them the possibility to build a future.
School is a place for socialization as well as a safe haven. According to UNICEF, children who do not have access to quality education are more vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and illness.
At school, girls and boys get at least one meal a day; for some of them it is the only one. It is an indispensable element for, in Vietnam, about one quarter of the children under the age of 5 suffer with malnutrition, especially in the rural areas.
Educating girls is fundamental
Sending the girls to school is an essential lever for restraining poverty through breaking its transmission from one generation to the other. An educated girl will get wages 25% higher than one who is illiterate. She will contribute to the economic and democratic development of her country. Being more independent, she will have children later and will also encourage them to go to school.
The Right to Education as recognized in the International Convention on the Rights of the Child
Education is one of the main rights of the youngests as recognized in the International Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular: Make primary education compulsory and available free to all; (…)
Article 28 of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the the General Assembly of the United Nations. That international bill introduces the concept of the higher interest of the child and Vietnam was the first Asian state to sign it.
Rural and mountain areas still too neglected
Nevertheless, the country must still face many challenges to offer each child a good education. The disparites between areas and ethnic groups are still characteristic. The rural areas of the Mekong Delta, of the high plateaux or of the mountains, often isolated, are particularly affected by this phenomenon.
Among a population of 101 million inhabitants, 60% live in a rural area, away from the big cities. And half of the active male and female Vietnamese workers are in agriculture. After the opening-up of the country in the 1990’s, the economic situation got much better. However, 18.2% of children under the age of 5 suffer from malnutrition, according to the World Bank (2023 data).
8,6% Vietnamese children are vulnerable
In Vietnam, there are 23 million children under the age of 15. Among them, 2 million, that is to say 8,6% of the child population, were considered as vulnerable in 2023. Around 5% live in households below the poverty line.
Nowadays, 96% of the Vietnamese are literate. While the vast majority attend primary school, many do not complete their schooling. The difficulties are even greater for young people from ethnic minority groups.
53% of children living in rural areas drop out of school at the lower secondary level. They are often compeled to go to work in order to help their parents by working in the fields and the rice fields or the tips…
Two million children have disabilities and are not supported by the education system.
Schools that are difficult to get to
In Vietnam, schooling is officially compulsory and free. However, going to school is quite complicated in some rural areas as the children have to drive many kilometres to get there. And if there are any public transport they are far from free. Also, going to school means extra expenses which the families cannot afford : school supplies, school meals and extra tutoring. It is believed that It is estimated that around 1 million children between 5 to 17 (about 5.4% of the child population) are obliged to go to work.
Because of the lack of schools and teachers, most classes function with the double-shift system: children either go to school in the morning or in the afternoon.