Vietnam has qualified as successful universal education coverage for 5-year-old children according to Vice Minister of Education and Training, Nguyen Thi Nghia.

Speaking at the International Conference on Early Childhood Education (ECE) held on Monday morning in Hanoi, Nghia said that the “Enhancing School Readiness for Pre-school Children” is considered a historical project which contributes significantly to the universalization of ECE for 5-year-old children.

“Development of ECE and enhancing school readiness for children are significant factors in the development of quality human resources for Vietnam,” Nghia added.

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in partnership with the World Bank and UNICEF organize the International Conference on Early Childhood Education (ECE) with the theme “Ensure access of all children to quality early childhood education and school readiness” on 12th and 13th June 2017. 

This ECE International Conference is organized in conjunction with the Conference to review the “Enhancing School Readiness for Pre-school Children” Project with the expectation to share success stories and good practices to further develop ECE in Vietnam in the future.

The ECE International Conference was co-organised by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in partnership with the World Bank and UNICEF, attracted 290 participants from 11 countries, including Vietnamese education officials, international scholars, researchers and ECE leaders together with senior leaders of the World Bank and UNICEF, and representatives from various NGOs.

Speaking at the conference, Minister Phung Xuan Nha emphasizes that ECE plays an important role and lays the first bricks for physical, intellectual, emotional and aesthetic development of children.  

Minister Nha highly appreciates the support from the World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO and other NGOs for ECE development in Vietnam. He also requested continued support from the World Bank and UNICEF as well as other international organizations for ECE in Vietnam in the future.

Country Director of the World Bank in Vietnam, Ousmane Dionne, highlighted “Vietnam is strongly committed to education development. Through the universal early childhood education programme for 5-year-old children, Vietnam has ensured the right to at least one year pre-primary education for children and continue to primary and secondary education. However, we need to be more ambitious and should state that the right to education, just simply by sitting in the classrooms, is not enough. Education should be high quality to ensure that children can really learn.”

Representative of UNICEF in Vietnam, Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, stressed that investing in ECD is one of the most cost effective investments to ensure Vietnam’s sustainable development.

“Early interventions for young children help them achieve more success when they reach primary school and it improves their health and over all development,” he said. “As adults, they will have better employment and higher earnings, better health, and they are less likely to depend on welfare.”

The ECE International Conference is a forum for information sharing and exchange to catch up with global and regional trends in early childhood care and development, particularly in South East Asia. 

During the two days of the International Conference, senior Vietnamese and international guest speakers are expected to share experiences and discuss key issues of early childhood education in the world and the region such as early childhood development and education policies and programmes, quality assurance conditions and inter-agency coordination in early childhood care, education and development.

dtinews