Illuminating knowledge for ethnic minority students.

Quang Ninh province has a large ethnic minority population, particularly in mountainous and border areas facing significant socio-economic challenges. Therefore, ethnic affairs are always considered a key task in the province's sustainable development strategy. The Provincial People's Committee has issued the "Quang Ninh Province Ethnic Affairs Strategy for the period 2022-2030, with a vision to 2045". Accordingly, educational policies for ethnic minority students are prioritized to create conditions for children of school age to access comprehensive education. As a result, the school attendance rate of ethnic minority students has increased, and their ability to acquire cultural knowledge, the common language, and science and technology has improved. Timely support policies have also contributed to reducing the financial burden on families, promoting universal education, and eradicating illiteracy in remote areas.

Báo Quảng Ninh•13/10/2025

A lesson between the teacher and students at the school.

A lesson between the teacher and students of the Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Secondary and High School levels).

Significant changes in ethnic boarding school education .

Visiting the Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Ha Long Ward) today, we saw a spacious, clean, modern, and well-organized learning environment, from classrooms and the cafeteria to the dormitories and auxiliary facilities such as the sports field. Every corner of the school exudes order, neatness, and discipline, clearly demonstrating a disciplined and friendly boarding school environment. What was easily noticeable was the enthusiastic and passionate learning spirit of the students. Their eyes shone with confidence and a desire to excel in their studies.

Ban Thi Thu, born in 2008, residing in Ky Thuong commune, a 12th-grade student in class 12B at the Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Secondary and High School levels), shared: “I feel very fortunate to study and live in such a well-equipped and disciplined environment. The teachers are always dedicated to helping and caring for each student, not only in their studies but also in their daily lives. At school, we not only learn knowledge but also develop life skills, independence, and a sense of community. I hope to study hard in the future to become a useful person and return to work in my commune to help Ky Thuong develop.”

It is known that the Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Secondary and High School) was established in 1993, then called the Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities. In the 1996-1997 school year, the school began enrolling its first cohort with a class of 37 students. In its early years, the school had an approved size of 6 classes. From the 2004-2005 school year, the province allowed the school to expand its training scale to 9 classes.

In 2023, the Provincial Ethnic Minority Boarding School merged with the Hoanh Bo Ethnic Minority Boarding School and was renamed the Quang Ninh Provincial Ethnic Minority Boarding Secondary and High School. The school's students are children of ethnic minorities from the highland and border communes of Quang Ninh province, areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions. Many graduating classes have become commune officials and work in various professions.

Pupil

Students of the Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Secondary and High School levels) participate in physical education and sports activities.

In the 2024-2025 school year, the school had 457 students distributed across 14 classes, and the overall quality of education showed positive improvements. The percentage of students achieving good and excellent grades reached 87.1%; 100% of students had good or excellent conduct. The school repaired and upgraded the cameras in the dormitory, cafeteria, multi-purpose hall, traditional room, and flagpole, ensuring a clean and modern educational environment. In the 2025-2026 school year, the school is continuing to strive for improvement in teaching quality, increasing the percentage of students achieving good and excellent grades, maintaining the graduation rate and university/college admission rate as in previous years. Along with this, the school aims to improve the management of boarding students, focusing on students' self-study activities, and building a healthy, friendly, and joyful educational environment.

According to Mr. Tran Van Soi, Principal of the Provincial Ethnic Minority Boarding School for Secondary and High School Students, the school will merge with Tien Yen Ethnic Minority Boarding School for Secondary and High School Students, based on Plan No. 253/KH-UBND dated October 6, 2025, issued by the Provincial People's Committee on streamlining internal organizations, public service units, and state-owned enterprises in the province. This is a step in line with the trend of innovation and an opportunity for comprehensive reform of educational activities. The merger will not only streamline the organizational structure and efficiently utilize human resources and facilities, but also create conditions for building a more comprehensive, modern, and larger-scale educational environment, better meeting the increasingly high learning needs of students.

Students from class 12B of the Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Secondary and High School) read books in the library.

At Binh Lieu Ethnic Boarding School (Binh Lieu commune), the quality of education has seen many noteworthy improvements in recent years. The school currently has 9 classes and 312 students from the Tay, Dao, San Chi, Kinh, and Hoa ethnic groups. To preserve and promote ethnic cultural identity within the school environment, the school has intensified efforts to educate parents and help students maintain their mother tongue through activities such as speaking their mother tongue at home and communicating in their mother tongue during school activities.

The school encourages students to wear traditional ethnic costumes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, as well as on holidays throughout the school year such as the opening ceremony, closing ceremony, and major ethnic festivals, and this practice is enthusiastically embraced by the students. In addition, ethnic cultural education is regularly integrated into subjects such as History & Geography, Art & Music, Literature, and Local Education; the school organizes the "I Love the Tay Language" competition; and folk games (walking on wooden clogs, throwing the ball, etc.) are held during extracurricular activities at Luc Na communal house to cultivate aesthetic appreciation and honor the cultural values, especially the language, of the Tay ethnic group for students.

Students from Binh Lieu Ethnic Boarding School (Binh Lieu commune) participate in the 2024 Book and Reading Culture Day.

Since the 2020-2021 school year, the school has received attention and investment from the People's Committee of Binh Lieu District (formerly) to build 18 dormitory rooms, 6 administrative offices, and 4 subject rooms. The well-equipped and modern facilities have created favorable conditions for boarding students to study and train in a safe and friendly environment.

Teacher Ngo Thi Thanh Ninh, The principal of Binh Lieu Ethnic Boarding High School shared: In response to the demands of educational reform, the school's teaching staff has actively innovated teaching methods, fostering the students' active participation and initiative, and consistently encouraging and supporting them to continuously improve in their studies. Many teachers actively participate in provincial-level competitions for excellent homeroom teachers and excellent teachers, achieving many high results, thereby contributing to affirming the quality of education at the school. From the 2020-2021 school year to the 2024-2025 school year, the school has had 86 students win awards in provincial-level competitions for outstanding students in cultural subjects.

A solid foundation that nurtures dreams and aspirations for success.

According to the Department of Education and Training, as of September 2025, the province has two provincial-level boarding schools for ethnic minorities (namely, the Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Secondary and High School) and the Tien Yen Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Secondary and High School); and three commune-level boarding schools for ethnic minorities: Binh Lieu Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, Ba Che Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, and Hai Ha Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (before the implementation of the two-tiered local government system, these three schools were under the management of the former district level). The province has 8,737 ethnic minority students in general education, accounting for 13.47% of the total number of students in the province. To streamline the administrative apparatus, the province plans to merge the Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Secondary and High School) and the Tien Yen Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Secondary and High School) this academic year.

Overall, in recent years, the close and synchronized coordination of all levels, sectors, and the entire political system has created a combined strength for ethnic minority education in general. Investment in infrastructure and teaching equipment has been strengthened, meeting the requirements of the 2018 general education program. Ethnic minority boarding schools, semi-boarding schools, and schools with semi-boarding students have been built and upgraded towards standardization, creating the best possible learning environment.

Students in class 8A, Binh Lieu Ethnic Boarding School (Binh Lieu commune), are studying Art.

During the 2022-2025 period, the province prioritized 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 recently emerged from the category of extremely difficult areas. As a result, the school system in ethnic minority and mountainous areas has received increasing investment, becoming more modern and meeting the learning needs and educational reform requirements, contributing to improving the quality of teaching and learning.

Besides provincial budget support from the National Target Program for New Rural Development and the Comprehensive Program for Sustainable Socio-Economic Development linked to 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 investment projects for schools with a total budget of approximately 389.236 billion VND. From this, 30 schools in ethnic minority, mountainous, border, and island areas throughout the province have been renovated and constructed.

In addition to central government policies, the Provincial People's Council also issues specific policies for children, students, and trainees in ethnic minority areas in difficult and especially difficult communes and villages. For example: Resolution No. 204/2019/NQ-HĐND of the Provincial People's Council stipulating a number of support policies in preschool, primary, secondary, and continuing education institutions in the province; Resolution No. 248/2020/NQ-HĐND of the Provincial People's Council amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Regulations issued together with Resolution No. 204/2019/NQ-HĐND of the Provincial People's Council stipulating a number of support policies in preschool, primary, secondary, and continuing education institutions in the province.

By 2023, with no more disadvantaged or extremely disadvantaged communes in the province, the Provincial People's Council continued to issue Resolution No. 22/2023/NQ-HĐND on continuing to implement the province's specific policies stipulated in Resolution No. 204/2019/NQ-HĐND and Resolution No. 248/2020/NQ-HĐND for beneficiaries in communes that have been removed from the list of disadvantaged areas and communes and villages that have been removed from the list of extremely disadvantaged areas in the province. This aims to extend the policies supporting boarding for beneficiaries in the province, ensuring the continued implementation of the policy for ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

The province also directed the Department of Education and Training to regularly review and assess the quality of teachers and educational administrators in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, especially focusing on ethnic boarding schools, ethnic semi-boarding schools, and general schools with semi-boarding students. Along with this, it emphasized strengthening training and improving the professional capacity of teachers according to professional standards and practical requirements, effectively meeting the implementation of the 2018 General Education Program. It also proactively proposed solutions for developing and improving the quality of teachers and educational administrators 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 enhance the professional skills, foreign language proficiency, computer skills, and management capabilities of administrators and teachers. At the same time, it focuses on developing the capacity to organize educational activities linked to the preservation and promotion of traditional cultural values of ethnic minority communities; and skills in caring for and nurturing boarding and semi-boarding students in accordance with the specific conditions of each region.

As a result, during the 2022-2025 period, 100% of management staff and teachers throughout the education sector in general, and in ethnic minority boarding schools in particular, participated in training to improve their management and professional skills to meet the requirements of the 2018 General Education Program; 100% of management staff and teachers in ethnic minority boarding schools completed the training modules and fully participated in regular training activities as prescribed.

To enhance the effectiveness of ethnic minority education, the Department of Education and Training has requested the Provincial People's Committee to continue paying attention to leading and directing the socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas; to promptly revise and supplement policies on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; and to pay special attention to policies on education and human development linked to the socio-economic development strategy. Research should be conducted on establishing economic zones and regions in ethnic minority areas, linked to the need to develop a skilled workforce.

Furthermore, it is suggested that the Ministry of Education and Training continue to review and adjust the general education curriculum to ensure comprehensiveness, suitability to learners' abilities, and relevance to practical realities and the needs of the labor market. In particular, it is recommended to strengthen guidance on improving the quality of the teaching staff; invest in facilities and teaching equipment; and promote digital transformation. It is also recommended to comprehensively innovate teaching methods towards the application of science, technology, and artificial intelligence to enhance 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 regions. The focus is on revising and supplementing existing policies to ensure their suitability, sustainability, and timeliness. The sector also prioritizes the allocation and efficient use of state budget funds to invest in the construction and upgrading of facilities and teaching equipment for schools in ethnic minority areas. This aims not only to ensure the implementation of the 2018 general education program but also to create conditions for equal and quality access to education for all students.

The Department is focusing on directing schools to improve the overall quality of education, with particular emphasis on 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 opportunities for integration; and guiding ethnic minority students to pursue majors in urgent need such as medicine, agricultural engineering, information technology, etc., in order to create a high-quality local workforce.

Simultaneously, promote physical education to protect, care for, and develop the physical health of students, especially at the preschool and primary school levels. In particular, integrate education on preserving and promoting the tangible and intangible cultural values of ethnic minorities into the curriculum, contributing to raising national awareness and pride. Prioritize the allocation of sufficient numbers and appropriate qualifications of teachers and administrators to meet the requirements of educational reform; strengthen professional development, especially in teaching methods suitable for the specific characteristics of ethnic minority students.

With the province's attention and the dedication of the teaching staff, the journey of imparting knowledge to ethnic minority students is reaping sweet fruits day by day. Ethnic minority boarding schools are not only places for teaching knowledge but also solid foundations for nurturing dreams and aspirations. Through this, ethnic minority students are equipped with knowledge and their ethnic cultural identity to confidently enter life and contribute to building a more prosperous and civilized Quang Ninh province.

Lan Anh

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