Illuminating knowledge for ethnic minority students

Quang Ninh is a province with many ethnic minorities, especially in mountainous and border areas with many socio-economic difficulties. Therefore, ethnic work has always been identified as a key task in the province's sustainable development strategy. The Provincial People's Committee has issued the "Strategy on ethnic work in Quang Ninh province for the period 2022-2030, with a vision to 2045". Accordingly, educational policies for ethnic minority students are prioritized to create conditions for school-age children to access comprehensive education. Thanks to that, the rate of ethnic minority students going to school has increased, and their ability to acquire cultural knowledge, common language and science and technology has been improved. Timely support policies also contribute to reducing the financial burden on families, promoting universal education and eliminating illiteracy in remote areas.

Lesson of teacher and students of Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities of the province.

Clear changes in ethnic boarding education

Visiting the Provincial Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities (Ha Long Ward) today, we saw a spacious, clean, modern, and synchronous learning space from the classrooms, dining hall, dormitory to auxiliary facilities such as the sports ground. Every corner of the school exudes neatness, tidiness, and order, clearly demonstrating the disciplined and friendly boarding education environment. What is easy to see is the enthusiastic and enthusiastic learning spirit of the school's students. Their eyes shine with confidence and a desire to excel in their studies.

Ban Thi Thu, born in 2008, living in Ky Thuong commune, a 12B grade student at the provincial Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities, shared: “I feel very lucky to be able to study and live in a fully equipped and disciplined environment like here. Teachers are always dedicated to helping and caring for each student, not only in studying but also in daily life. At school, we not only learn knowledge but also practice life skills, independence and community awareness. I hope to study well in the future to become a useful person, return to work in the commune to help the Ky Thuong locality develop.

It is known that the Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities was established in 1993, at that time it was called the Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities. In the 1996-1997 school year, the school began enrolling the first course with a class of 37 students. In the first years of establishment, the school had an approved size of 6 classes. From the 2004-2005 school year, the school was allowed by the province to expand its training scale to 9 classes.

In 2023, the provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities will merge with the Hoanh Bo Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities and change its name.   Quang Ninh Province Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities.   The school’s students are ethnic minority children from the highland and border communes of Quang Ninh province, where the socio-economic conditions are particularly difficult. Many graduates have become commune officials, working in many different fields.

Students of the Provincial Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities participate in sports activities.

In the 2024-2025 school year, the school has 457 students arranged in 14 classes, the quality of mass education at the school has changed positively. The rate of good and excellent students accounts for 87.1%; students with good and excellent conduct reaches 100%. The school has repaired and upgraded cameras in the dormitory area, cafeteria, multi-purpose hall, traditional room, flagpole, ensuring a spacious pedagogical landscape. In the 2025-2026 school year, the school is continuing to strive to create changes in the quality of teaching and learning, increase the rate of good and excellent students, maintain the graduation rate and university and college entrance as the previous year. Along with that, improve the quality of management of boarding students, focus on students' self-study activities, build a healthy, friendly and joyful educational environment.

Teacher Tran Van Soi, Principal of the Provincial Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities, said: According to Plan No. 253/KH-UBND dated October 6, 2025 of the Provincial People's Committee on streamlining internal organizations, public service units, and state-owned enterprises in the province, the school will merge with Tien Yen Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities. This is a step in line with the innovation trend, an opportunity to comprehensively innovate educational activities. The merger not only helps to streamline the organizational apparatus, effectively use human resources and facilities, but also creates conditions to build a synchronous, modern and larger-scale educational environment, better meeting the increasing learning needs of students.

12B grade students of the provincial Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities read books in the library.

At Binh Lieu Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Binh Lieu Commune), the quality of education has also seen many remarkable changes in recent years. The school currently has 9 classes, 312 students including Tay, Dao, San Chi, Kinh and Hoa ethnic groups. In order to preserve and promote the national cultural identity in the school environment, the school has increased propaganda and dissemination to parents to help students preserve their mother tongue through activities: Speaking the mother tongue at home, communicating in the mother tongue in school activities.

The school wears national costumes every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and on holidays during the school year such as opening, closing, and major national holidays, and is actively participated by students. In addition, ethnic cultural education is regularly integrated through the subjects of History & Geography, Fine Arts & Music, Literature, and Local Education; organizing the contest "I love Tay language"; organizing folk games (wearing wooden clogs, throwing con...) through extracurricular activities at Luc Na communal house to educate aesthetics and honor cultural values, especially the language of the Tay ethnic group for students.

Students of Binh Lieu Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Binh Lieu Commune) participate in Book and Reading Culture Day 2024.

Since the 2020-2021 school year, the school has received attention from the People's Committee of Binh Lieu district (old), investing in the construction of 18 rooms in the dormitory area, 6 principal's rooms and 4 department rooms. The spacious and modern facilities have created favorable conditions for boarding students to study and practice in a safe and friendly environment.

Teacher Ngo Thi Thanh Ninh,   The principal of Binh Lieu Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities shared: In response to the requirements of educational innovation, the school's teaching staff has actively innovated teaching methods, promoted students' positivity and initiative, always cared for and encouraged them, helping them to constantly improve in their studies. Many teachers actively participated in competitions for excellent homeroom teachers and excellent teachers at the provincial level and achieved many high achievements, thereby contributing to affirming the school's educational quality. From the 2020-2021 school year to the 2024-2025 school year, the school had 86 students winning prizes in provincial competitions for excellent students in cultural subjects.

A solid foundation to nurture dreams and aspirations to rise up

According to the Department of Education and Training, as of September 2025, the province has 2 provincial-level boarding schools for ethnic minorities (ie: Provincial Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities and Tien Yen Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities); there are 3 commune-level boarding schools for ethnic minorities: Binh Lieu Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities, Ba Che Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities and Hai Ha Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities (before implementing the 2-level local government, these 3 schools were managed by the old district level). The province has 8,737 ethnic minority high school students, accounting for 13.47% of the total number of students in the province. To streamline the apparatus, the policy in this school year is to merge the Provincial Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities and Tien Yen Boarding Secondary and High School for Ethnic Minorities.

In general, over the past years, the close and synchronous coordination of all levels, sectors and the entire political system has created a combined strength for ethnic education in general. Investment resources for facilities and teaching equipment have been increased, meeting the requirements of the 2018 general education program. Boarding schools for ethnic minorities, semi-boarding schools for ethnic minorities, and schools with semi-boarding students have been built and upgraded in the direction of standardization, creating the best learning environment.

8A students of Binh Lieu Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Binh Lieu commune) study Fine Arts.

In the 2022-2025 period, the province prioritizes investment resources for communes within the scope of Resolution No. 06-NQ/TU dated May 17, 2021 of the Provincial Party Committee and communes that have just emerged from the list of particularly difficult areas. The school system in ethnic minority and mountainous areas has thus received more and more investment, meeting the learning needs and requirements of educational innovation, contributing to improving the quality of teaching and learning.

In addition to the provincial budget support from the National Target Program on New Rural Development, the Comprehensive Program on Sustainable Socio-Economic Development associated with ensuring national defense and security in communes, villages, and hamlets in ethnic minority, mountainous, border, and island areas according to Resolution No. 06-NQ/TU, localities have also proactively implemented school investment projects with a total cost of about 389,236 billion VND. From there, 30 schools in ethnic minority, mountainous, border, and island areas in the province have been invested in renovating and building.

In addition to central policies, the Provincial People's Council also issued specific policies for children, students and trainees in ethnic minority areas in disadvantaged and especially disadvantaged communes and villages. Such as: Resolution No. 204/2019/NQ-HDND of the Provincial People's Council stipulating a number of support policies in educational institutions, preschools, general education and continuing education in the province; Resolution No. 248/2020/NQ-HDND of the Provincial People's Council amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Regulation issued together with Resolution No. 204/2019/NQ-HDND of the Provincial People's Council stipulating a number of support policies in educational institutions, preschools, general education and continuing education in the province.

By 2023, there will be no more difficult or extremely difficult communes in the province. The Provincial People's Council will continue to issue Resolution No. 22/2023/NQ-HDND on continuing to implement the province's specific policies stipulated in Resolution No. 204/2019/NQ-HDND and Resolution No. 248/2020/NQ-HDND for subjects in communes out of difficult areas and communes and villages out of extremely difficult areas in the province to extend the boarding support policies for subjects in the province to ensure the continued implementation of the policy for mountainous ethnic minority areas.

The province also directed the Department of Education and Training to regularly review and evaluate the quality of teachers and educational managers in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, especially focusing on boarding schools for ethnic minorities, semi-boarding schools for ethnic minorities and general schools with semi-boarding students. Along with that, strengthen training and improve professional capacity for teachers according to professional standards and practical requirements, effectively responding to the implementation of the 2018 General Education Program. Proactively propose solutions to develop and improve the quality of teachers and educational managers in ethnic minority, mountainous, border and island areas.

The Department of Education and Training also presides over and coordinates the organization of training courses to improve professional skills, foreign languages, information technology, and management capacity for managers and teachers. At the same time, it focuses on training the capacity to organize educational activities associated with preserving and promoting traditional cultural values ​​of ethnic minorities; skills to care for and nurture boarding and semi-boarding students in accordance with specific regional conditions.

Thanks to that, in the period of 2022-2025, 100% of managers and teachers in the whole sector in general, and boarding schools for ethnic minorities in particular, will participate in training to improve their management and professional capacity to meet the requirements of the 2018 General Education Program; 100% of managers and teachers of boarding schools for ethnic minorities have completed training modules and fully participated in regular training activities as prescribed.

To promote the effectiveness of ethnic education, the Department of Education and Training has requested the Provincial People's Committee to continue to pay attention to leading and directing the socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas; promptly amend and supplement socio-economic development policies for ethnic minority and mountainous areas; pay special attention to education and human development policies associated with socio-economic development strategies. Research and build economic zones and regions in ethnic minority areas, associated with the need to develop a workforce with professional qualifications.

In addition, the Ministry of Education and Training is requested to continue reviewing and adjusting the general education program to ensure comprehensiveness, suitability to learners' abilities and connection with reality and labor market needs. In particular, strengthen direction to improve the quality of teaching staff; invest in facilities, teaching equipment and promote digital transformation. Synchronously innovate teaching methods towards applying science, technology and artificial intelligence to improve educational effectiveness.

Currently, the Department of Education and Training is continuing to research, propose and effectively implement priority education policies for ethnic minority and mountainous areas. The focus is on amending and supplementing current policies to ensure suitability, sustainability and timeliness. The sector also prioritizes the allocation and effective use of state budget resources to invest in construction and upgrading of facilities and teaching equipment for ethnic minority schools. This is not only to ensure the roadmap for implementing the 2018 general education program but also to create conditions for equal access to quality education for all students.

The Department is focusing on directing schools to improve the quality of comprehensive education, especially paying attention to teaching Vietnamese to ethnic minority students so that they have a solid foundation when studying cultural subjects. At the same time, it is strengthening the teaching and learning of foreign languages ​​(English, Chinese) to expand integration opportunities; orienting ethnic minority students to study majors in urgent need such as doctors, agricultural engineers, information technology... to create high-quality human resources on the spot.

At the same time, promote physical education to protect, care for health and develop physical fitness for students, especially at preschool and primary levels. In particular, integrate education on preserving and promoting tangible and intangible cultural values ​​of ethnic minorities into the curriculum, contributing to raising awareness and national pride. Prioritize the arrangement of sufficient quantity and structure of qualified teachers and managers to meet the requirements of educational innovation; enhance professional training, especially teaching methods suitable to the characteristics of ethnic minority students.

With the attention of the province and the dedication of the teachers, the journey of spreading knowledge to ethnic minority students is reaping sweet fruits day by day. Ethnic boarding schools are not only places to impart knowledge but also a solid foundation to nurture dreams and aspirations. Thereby, helping ethnic minority students carry with them the baggage of knowledge and national cultural identity to confidently step into life, contributing to building their homeland Quang Ninh to become more and more beautiful and civilized.

Lan Anh

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/thap-sang-tri-thuc-cho-hoc-sinh-dan-toc-thieu-so-3379399.html