Mekong Delta needs to increase education expenditures

Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha has instructed authorities in 12 provinces and one city in the Mekong Delta region to increase expenditures from their local education budgets to pay for facilities and equipment.
Mekong Delta needs to increase education expenditures ảnh 1Students use machinery during a lesson at Can Tho University in Can Tho city. (Photo: VNA)
CanTho (VNA) - Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha hasinstructed authorities in 12 provinces and one city in the Mekong Delta regionto increase expenditures from their local education budgets to pay forfacilities and equipment.

The Mekong Delta’s expenditures are 11.9 percentlower than the country’s average, Nha said at a conference on solutions foreducational development in the region held recently in Can Tho city.

If the issue is not resolved, the gap betweenhuman resources and development would widen.

Pham Hung Anh, Director of the Agency ofEducation Facilities under the Ministry of Education and Training, said thatthe total expenditures for kindergarten and high school levels were at thelowest level, accounting for 14.9 percent and 15.3 percent, respectively, ofthe region’s total for the education sector between 2011 and 2016.

Secondary education accounted for27 percent, and primary education 42.8 percent, Anh said.

Allocation from the central budget for theregion via education programmes is low, he said.

To build schools in the 2014-2015 year, forexample, only Tan Phu Dong district in Tien Giang province received a subsidyworth more than 7.5 billion VND (320,700 USD), accounting for 0.4 percent ofthe country’s total.

The programme in the 2017-2020 periodprovided 717 billion VND for the entire region, he said.

The region has 6,874 schools from kindergartento high school levels. It will need nearly 3,300 new classrooms to be built andaround 8,550 to be upgraded. Nearly 2,200 sets of teaching equipment will bebought.

The region has 55.1 percent of primary studentsdropping out for many different reasons including financial difficulties,moving to other southern provinces or HCM City or other cities in the region.

Nguyen Thi Minh Giang, Director of Kien Giang province’sDepartment of Education and Training, said that the region’s many canals leadto difficulties for students to go to school.

The rate of national standard schools ateducational levels is low in the region, compared to others in the country.

Many delegates at other educational departmentsin provinces have complained about shortage of teachers as the number ofstudents increases.

Nguyen Hung Nhien, deputy director of Hau Giang province’sDepartment of Education and Training, said that more preferential policiesabout salaries for kindergarten teachers should be issued because the salary islow and they work 10 to 12 hours a day.

Nguyen Thanh Binh, acting Chairman of the AnGiang Province People’s Committee, said that education in the region needs aspecial policy.

The region has only two or three provinceswaiting to be given financial autonomy, Binh said, adding that it is difficultto allocate more to their education budget.

At the conference, the Ministry of Education andTraining and local authorities said the land collection would be used for theeducation sector. Funds for the prevention of natural calamities should be usedfor the sector.  

The ministry will ask the National Assembly toapprove more loans. The loans’ value will increase by 5 percent to 10 percentcompared to the existing ones.-VNA
VNA

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