VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Education and Training should change the model of pre-college training for students from ethnic minority groups in the direction of increasing their time for study and improving the quality of the trainees, the National Assembly's Council of Ethnic Affairs has said.

During its second three-day meeting which wrapped up yesterday, Oct 19, the council also asked the Government's Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs to review and issue a list of disadvantaged localities so that the policy of sending members of ethnic minority groups from those localities to universities without having to take the obligatory entrance exams could be implemented effectively.

Local authorities should prioritise the employment of these people after graduation, the council said, adding that measures should be proposed for the policy to be continued in an effective way.

Participants at the meeting also agreed on their work schedule for the next year, which focused on the supervision of the implementation of policies on rapid and sustainable eradication of poverty for the 62 poorest districts, the provision of cultivation land for poor households, and a survey on the socio-economic situation of the smaller ethnic groups.

The training and employment of ethnic people in the northwestern region, the Central Highlands and the western part of the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta should also be surveyed, while the efficiency of poverty eradication efforts in a number of Delta provinces should be checked.

* E-learning contest for teachers launched

The Ministry of Education and Training and the Lawrence S Ting Memorial Fund have announced the second "Building e-learning Lesson Plan" contest for teachers in Ha Noi.

The contest, part of the "Moving Forward with IT" programme, is to promote the application of information technology and create open educational resources.

Junior and senior high-school teachers are entitled to compete. Entries can be lesson plans in mathematics, physics, biology, English, computing, literature, history, geography, civics, technology, arts, or music.

Prizes totalling more than VND3.9 billion (US$186,000) are on offer.

* Primary-school pupils graduating after peers

In six cities and provinces in Viet Nam, some children stay at primary school well beyond the usual age.

Students usually begin primary school at six and end at the age of 11, but they tend to stay later in the northern provinces of Ha Giang, Cao Bang and Bac Can, the central provinces of Ninh Thuan and Binh Phuoc, and the Central Highland province of Gia Lai.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News