“Listening and exchanging” with ethnic minorities

The program "Listening and exchanging" on social security policies for ethnic minorities in Can Tho City, recently organized by the Standing Committee of the City People's Council in coordination with Can Tho Newspaper, Radio and Television, is truly an effective bridge, helping to bring the resolutions of the City People's Council into life...

Ethnic minority students studying at Hau Giang Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (in Long Binh ward, Can Tho city) receive comprehensive care.

Bright spots from practical policies

After the merger, Can Tho City has more than 494,000 people from 27 ethnic minorities, accounting for nearly 12% of the city's population. Of which, the Khmer ethnic group accounts for 8%, the Chinese ethnic group accounts for 2%, the rest are Cham, Muong, Tay, Nung ethnic groups... In the period of 2015-2024, the People's Councils of Can Tho City, Soc Trang province and Hau Giang province (old) issued many resolutions on implementing social security, education and health insurance policies for ethnic minorities, bringing many positive changes to their lives.

For example, Resolution No. 17/2019/NQ-HDND of the People's Council of Soc Trang province (old) stipulates a special policy to support teachers of Khmer language and script in the summer; and Chinese language and script at non-public schools in Soc Trang province. Thanks to that, nearly 1,260 Khmer language and script classes at 86 Khmer Theravada Buddhist pagodas, along with 170 Chinese language and script classes at private schools, have been maintained, attracting more than 30,000 ethnic minority students to study.

Lieu Tu commune has more than 70% of the population being Khmer ethnic people. Ms. Tang Thi Ut, who received support to learn Khmer language and script in Lieu Tu commune, confided: “Thanks to the attention from the government and teachers, attending classes went smoothly. After 6 months of studying, I was able to read, write simple words and sign my name.”

The city currently has 18% of ethnic minority students and 141 schools that teach ethnic languages. At ethnic boarding schools, thousands of ethnic minority students are given comprehensive care - from scholarships, accommodation, study to skill training, and preservation of cultural identity.

Mr. Thach Binh, Deputy Chief of Thoi Hung Commune Police, who has benefited from the police's policy of training ethnic minority cadres, shared: "Looking back on the past, I feel that the policy of supporting ethnic minorities is very important. I will continue to strive to contribute to the construction and development of my homeland and country."

Along with other social security policies, health insurance for ethnic minorities is becoming an important support, helping people reduce the burden of medical examination and treatment costs. In Co Do commune, nearly 2,360 ethnic minorities are supported with 100% of health insurance premiums, with a total cost of nearly 1.2 billion VND. Notably, before the merger, Soc Trang province issued nearly 112,200 health insurance cards to ethnic minorities in extremely difficult areas, with a total cost of more than 21.3 billion VND.

Mr. Truong Canh Tuyen, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, affirmed: "The City People's Council has issued very timely policies, correct and in line with the thoughts and aspirations of ethnic minorities. From there, it has created high consensus and unity, reflecting the Party's will and the people's hearts. The City People's Committee has focused and resolutely directed the sectors and localities to effectively implement the issued policies. During the implementation process, there are inspections, supervisions and adjustments in accordance with the practical situation."

Expectations for new policies

Vinh Chau Ward has more than 52.5% of the population being Khmer. Over the past 5 years, Theravada Buddhist pagodas in the ward have opened more than 200 classes teaching Khmer language and script, attracting thousands of students. However, in some classes, the facilities for teaching and learning are not uniform, the desks and chairs are degraded and makeshift; bilingual teaching and learning face many obstacles when the Khmer textbooks are still lacking, many books do not meet the prescribed standards.

Resolution No. 01/2015/NQ-HDND of the People's Council of Can Tho City (old) on supporting study costs for ethnic minority students was issued with high expectations. However, due to some localities not understanding the scope of the policy, leading to incomplete review and identification of beneficiaries, the whole city only has 5 students who are beneficiaries, with a total budget of nearly 30 million VND. The above difficulties and problems have shown the importance of listening to the opinions of managers and voters to build and perfect policies.

Venerable Duong An, Abbot of Settodor Pagoda in Co Do Commune, proposed: “The Party and State continue to thoroughly implement and consistently implement the policy of great national unity; promote comprehensive and sustainable socio-economic development of ethnic minority areas in general, and the Khmer ethnic group in particular. On the other hand, preserve and promote the Khmer ethnic cultural identity; improve the quality of human resources and ethnic minority cadres; continue to implement the policy of recruitment, tuition exemption at all levels and health insurance for ethnic minorities.”

Listening to voters' opinions, the city's departments, branches and sectors promptly concretized many practical solutions. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuan, Director of Can Tho City Social Insurance, said: "We have proactively advised the City Party Committee, People's Council and People's Committee on effective solutions to expand health insurance coverage, ensuring the rights of people when going to the doctor, especially ethnic minorities participating in health insurance".

According to Mr. Hoang Quoc Cuong, Director of the Department of Health of Can Tho City, to enhance health care for ethnic minorities, the sector has proposed 9 solutions to improve the quality of health services at the grassroots level in the coming time. In particular, continuing to improve the health system; focusing on training high-quality health human resources and sending doctors to work at health stations; advising on the selection of public investment projects to improve facilities and equipment at regional health centers and health stations...

In the field of education, Ms. Tran Thi Huyen, Acting Director of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City, informed: “In the 2025-2026 school year, the sector will promote digital transformation in the field of ethnic education to narrow the gap, creating conditions for students to study together; train and improve the team of teachers teaching ethnic languages; increase Vietnamese language teaching for ethnic minority students preparing to enter grade 1 during the 2 summer months. In addition, invest more in infrastructure and equipment for ethnic boarding schools”.

Affirming the city's determination, Mr. Dong Van Thanh, Standing Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Can Tho City, emphasized that the city continues to identify ethnic issues as strategic issues, a task that the entire Party, the entire army, and the entire people carry out. Through the program "Listening and exchanging", many contents related to ethnic policies have been clarified. The Standing Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee requested the City People's Committee and departments, branches and sectors to continue to review, direct the removal and better implementation of policies for ethnic minorities that have been issued; and soon agree on the support levels and standards of the policies.

Article and photos: DANG THU

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/-lang-nghe-va-trao-doi-cung-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-a193296.html