Equal access to education for female students
Ha Noi, March 7 (VNA) -- Thirty secondary school female students from mountain and remote provinces gathered in Ha Noi today, March 7, to share their experiences and concerns on improving the education quality for girls in those areas.
During the one-day meeting, initiated by the United Nations agencies in Viet Nam and the Viet Nam Women's Union, the students were provided with basic training on gender issues, particularly gender issues in education, so that upon their return, they may play an active gender advocacy role among their peers and in their communities. They also gave recommendations to improve educational conditions and opportunities to government and UN agencies.
Addressing the meeting, UN Resident Coordinator in Viet Nam Edouard A. Wattez said the improvement of education for girls was one of the top concerns of the UN. Many of its agencies in Viet Nam such as UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO, UNDCP, FAO, UNHCR and ILO have assisted the country in ensuring all girls and women in Viet Nam to get equal access to quality education.
As many as 92 percent of Vietnamese are literate and 95 percent of children in primary schoolsage group go to school, the highest rates among developing countries in the region.
However, the rates of girls in remote and mountain provinces who have not enrolled in primary and secondary schools are 16 percent and 32 percent while such rates of boys are 11 percent and 20 percent, respectively. About 70 percent of school drops-out are girls.--VNA
