From 9-12 of July 2019, in cooperation with VVOB Vietnam, Quang Ngai Department of Education and Training has organized the 2 training classes on Safe school environment for 81 participants including school leaders and Bureaus of Education and Training officers of 6 districts in Quang Ngai province.

Strengthening preschool teachers’ and school leaders’ practice of addressing barriers to learning and participation, and ensuring deep level learning among all children. Source: VVOB Vietnam

After this training, participants have skills to assess the vulnerability of their preschools therefore they can develop plan to improve the learning environment for all children.

This is an activity under the project “Mitigating Preschool Children’s Barriers to Learning in Disadvantaged and Ethnically Diverse Districts” (BaMi), implemented by VVOB Vietnam at provinces of Kon Tum, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai and funded by Belgium Government.

Although Vietnam’s enrolment rates for early childhood education (ECE) are high, the country are facing challenges. This is particularly true for the provinces of Kon Tum, Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai in Central Vietnam, where there are big concentrations of people from poor backgrounds and ethnic minorities. These areas are also prone to natural disasters. Due to a policy and donor focus on accessibility for primary and secondary school children, insufficient attention is being given to ECE in these vulnerable areas.

A major concern in the ECE classroom in Vietnam, is the lack of well-being and involvement of young children. This hampers their full development and learning process. Although many ECE teachers have a degree, few can demonstrate the much needed practical skills and ECE specific pedagogies. This deficit is reinforced by school leaders that are not equipped with the knowledge or skills to organise effective professional development trajectories for teachers in those areas.

The BaMi programme centres on strengthening the professional development of preschool teachers and preschool leaders in ECE in three provinces with disadvantaged and ethnically perse districts in Central Vietnam.

The programme aims to improve preschool teachers’ and school leaders’ practice of process-oriented child monitoring; strengthen preschool teachers’ and school leaders’ practice of addressing barriers to learning and participation (related to gender, environment, language, socio-cultural backgrounds, or other factors), and ensuring deep level learning among all children; and enhance needs-based/school-based teacher professional development for preschool teachers on process-oriented child monitoring and addressing barriers to learning and participation.

The programme contributes to the implementation of a sustainable strategy on process-oriented child monitoring and addressing barriers to learning and participation in ECE, particularly in disadvantaged and ethnically perse regions.

VVOB is a Belgian non-profit organisation which focuses on Education for Development. VVOB started working in Vietnam in 1992. Since 2008, it has focused on the education sector and early childhood education since 2014.