The Ministry of Education and Training said school enrollment among ethnic minority students has approached nationwide levels, although teaching and learning their mother tongues continue to face difficulties due to shortages of teachers and learning materials as well as limited demand.

Educational opportunities continue to expand

On Sept. 29, the Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs and the Tay Ninh Provincial People’s Committee jointly held a conference reviewing two years of implementing Decision No. 1567/QD-TTg on strengthening implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and recommendations from the CERD Committee.

Presenting a report on ensuring education and training rights for ethnic minority people, Nguyen Thi Huy, a representative of the Department of International Cooperation under the Ministry of Education and Training, said those rights extend beyond simply having the opportunity to attend school.

W-Bộ GD ĐT 01.png
Nguyen Thi Huy, a representative of the Department of International Cooperation under the Ministry of Education and Training, speaks at the conference on Sept. 29.

They also encompass the ability to remain in education, access quality learning and have cultural identities respected, she said.

According to Huy, Vietnam’s Education Law prioritizes investment in education in mountainous areas, ethnic minority communities and particularly disadvantaged regions.

Policies include scholarships, allowances, tuition exemptions and reductions, support for education costs and the development of specialized schools.

At the university and vocational education levels, preferential admissions policies, nomination-based enrollment and financial support continue to expand opportunities for ethnic minority students.

The Law on Teachers, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2026, also establishes policies to attract and provide incentives for teachers working in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, border regions, islands and particularly disadvantaged communities.

The network of schools and classes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas continues to be strengthened. Boarding and semi-boarding schools for ethnic minority students, along with university preparatory schools, contribute to developing a pipeline of students and training human resources.

Over the past five years, the enrollment rate among five-year-old ethnic minority children has reached around 98%, compared with 99% nationwide.

The enrollment rate for primary-school-age ethnic minority children stands at 97.25%, compared with the national rate of 98.31%.

The graduation rate is approximately 98.24% at the lower secondary level and 98.16% at the upper secondary level.

Huy cautioned, however, that these results do not mean all disparities have been eliminated.

Gaps remain in opportunities to continue into upper secondary school, vocational education and university, as well as in education quality and access to facilities in some areas.

Ethnic minority language education faces challenges

The Ministry of Education and Training representative said Vietnam’s 2018 general education curriculum designates ethnic minority languages as optional subjects from grades 1 through 12.

The ministry has issued curricula for eight languages: Bahnar, Cham, Ede, Jrai, Khmer, Mong, Mnong and Thai.

In March 2026, it also issued a Raglai-language curriculum for primary schools and has been finalizing curricula for the Muong and Co Tu languages.

Between 2022 and 2025, ethnic minority language instruction was maintained in 15 of Vietnam’s 34 provinces and centrally governed cities.

The number of students increased from 119,484 to 132,221, with instruction provided across 514 schools and 4,736 classes.

Khmer had the largest number of learners, with more than 100,000 students, followed by Cham and Ede. Starting in the 2025-2026 academic year, Mnong was introduced in schools in Lam Dong province.

Despite this progress, only around 13.87% of ethnic minority primary school students studied their mother tongue during the 2024-2025 academic year.

Teaching remains constrained by teacher shortages, while curricula, textbooks and learning materials have yet to fully meet demand. Some parents also prioritize foreign languages, contributing to relatively low demand for ethnic minority language classes.

Huy said the Ministry of Education and Training will continue improving policies, investing in facilities, strengthening boarding and semi-boarding schools and improving the quality of teaching staff.

For ethnic minority languages, the education sector plans to expand programs based on demand, complete textbooks and other materials, provide further teacher training and develop digital learning resources.

By 2030, the goal is for 100% of teachers of ethnic minority languages to meet required training standards, for relevant education managers to receive professional development, and for textbooks and guidance materials to be provided according to plans once they have been compiled.

Huy stressed that learning an ethnic minority language can go hand in hand with learning Vietnamese, foreign languages and technology.

She said the results after two years of implementing Decision No. 1567/QD-TTg demonstrate efforts to ensure equal access to education, but “more important than the numbers are the opportunities that education brings to each learner.”

Speaking at the conference, Tay Ninh Provincial People’s Committee Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Dai Thy said the province is strategically located in Vietnam’s southeastern region and is home to 21 ethnic minority groups and several major religions living together in solidarity and harmony.

She said implementing Decision No. 1567/QD-TTg has provided an important foundation for the province to translate human rights objectives into concrete action, promote economic development in ethnic minority communities and preserve distinctive cultural values.

Thy said Tay Ninh would carefully consider the views presented at the conference and incorporate them into its socioeconomic development plans for the new period, with the goal of achieving inclusive and sustainable development.

Phuoc Sang