School attendance in the Central Highlands is on the rise. (Photo: VNA)

Decree No. 6 on meals for preschool children in disadvantaged areas is one Government policy that is helping poor children attend school.

The nutritious, hygienic lunches served at Cu Dram kindergarten in Dak Lak province, give the children the energy they need to get through the day.

Hodic Eban, the kindergarten’s principal, said, “The state support makes the parents more willing to send their children to school, where they can get a nutritious meal than at home.”

The Central Highlands has about 240,000 kindergarteners. Half of them receive lunches pursuant to Decree No. 6.

Over the past three years, schools in remote, ethnic minority areas in the Central Highlands have maintained a relatively high rate of school attendance, helping many localities fulfill the requirement of universal preschool education for 5-year-old children.

Pham Dang Khoa, Director of the Dak Lak provincial Department of Education and Training, said, “In addition to children from poor households, the decree also targets children from near-poor households, so kindergarteners can enjoy good meals and healthier development.”

Another project to improve boarding and day-boarding schools for ethnic children between 2016 and 2020 kept many ethnic children in school.

H’sem Yutlang, a student at Krong No Secondary and High Boarding School in Dac Nong province, said, “My house is more than 40km from the school. If there wasn’t a boarding school in the region, it would be extremely difficult for me to study. I have lots of friends here and can learn lots of things from teachers and schoolmates. We live together happily.”

There are about 100 day-boarding schools and 60 boarding schools for ethnic minority children in the Central Highlands.

All these schools provide safe, convenient accommodations, helping to reduce the drop-out rate, and improve the education quality.

Huynh Tan Trong, Vice Rector of the Krong No Secondary and High Boarding School, said, “In the past three years, the number of admissions to our school has tripled thanks to improved facilities and teaching quality. All the students can get their secondary and high school education here. The number who register for tertiary admission exams is high.”

In addition to the policies of the central government, the Central Highlands provinces have created their own education programs.

Kon Tum province, for example, provides free meals for ethnic students in day-boarding schools, while Dac Nong pays the school fees of ethnic students from poor and near-poor households. Dak Lak has supported ethnic students in boarding and day-boarding schools and provides textbooks for poor students.

All communes in the Central Highlands now have kindergartens and primary schools and 96% of the communes have secondary schools.