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| Loan Name | Secondary Education Sector Development Program (Program Loan) | |||
| Country | Viet Nam,Soc Rep of | |||
| Project Number | 40347- 01 | |||
| Fund Source/Amount[Proposed] |
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| Thematic Classification |
Social Development
Gender Equity Capacity Development |
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| Project Rationale | 1. Country Context. Viet Nam has enjoyed years of rapid economic growth over the past decades. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita increased from $489.9 in 2003 to $1052.7 in 2008. Real economic growth rate accelerated from 7.3 % in 2003 to 8.5% in 2007 but dropped to 6.2% in 2008. Growth is underpinned by higher farm incomes, strong domestic demand and fast export growth. Exports are growing by 15% to 20% per year in value terms, and foreign direct investment inflows by 10% per year. Viet Nam's openness to trade, one of the highest in the world at 150%.
2. As a consequence of the recent economic growth, the sectoral composition of the economy has also drastically changed. In 1999, the census showed that the country was primarily agricultural, with 76% of the population living in rural areas and agricultural production accounting for 26% of GDP (1998). The share of agriculture, forestry and fishery had declined to 14.2% of GDP in 2007. Conversely, the share of industry has been climbing and is presently at 43.3%, while the share of services has risen to 42.5%. By 2010, it is estimated that the percentage of the agricultural labor force will decrease to 50% and the industrial/construction and service labor forces will make up 24% and 26%, respectively. Such a shift will require an educated and skilled workforce which is able to drive the technology. 3. There is a growing need for more than just equitable delivery of compulsory education. Parents, particularly those from the increasingly prosperous middle-income stratum of society, hold high aspirations for their children to succeed in the market economy and view the acquisition of academic qualifications and professional skills as a key strategy to that objective. The families realize that primary level education is not sufficient for their children to secure employment in modern industries and well-paid professional careers. Secondary education is considered an entry-level requirement that can provide the basic competencies and skills to manage technology. 4. In addition, enhancing the quality of the Vietnamese labor force and regional competitiveness is a critical element for sustained economic growth. In 2006 Vietnam had a work force (15 years to 60 years of age) of 45.6 million people, an increase of three percent from 2005. Of this, nearly half or 45.5% are below the age of 34. Thus, it is important to equip young labor with professional skills and knowledge such as information and communication technology (ICT) and proficiency in foreign languages. The quality of schooling and the learning outcomes of students need to be equivalent with other countries for Viet Nam to be internationally competitive. 5. Persistent Development Inequalities by Regions, Ethnicity, Disabilities and Gender. Having achieved impressive overall economic growth rates, there has been a shift in povertyfrom widespread throughout the population to specific groups that are harder to reach. Four groups are particularly vulnerable: ethnic minorities, unregistered migrants in urban areas, people with disabilities and women/girls. 6. In 2006, 20.4% of rural households were poor compared with 3.9% of urban households. There are also dramatic differences between geographical regions. The North West region suffers the highest poverty rate at 51.9% while the South East, in stark contrast, enjoys the lowest, at 6.1% . Ethnic minorities, in particular, have not experienced the same level of economic progress as others. In 2006, 52.3% of ethnic minority households were poor compared with 10.3% of ethnic Kinh and Chinese households. Poverty among ethnic minority groups is closely associated with low or limited access to education and training opportunities, and it often results in low agricultural productivity and exclusion/isolation of ethnic minorities from the process of community decision making and participation in local governance structures. 7. Families with the children that migrate to urban areas are often not able to regularize their household registration in their new locations. This means their access to public services including schooling is limited. Under the current regulations, the unregistered residents need to pay the tuition to public schools which are free for the students from the registered families. High direct costs can present an obstacle to enrolment of children from the migrant families and lack of basic education often result in the intergenerational poverty. 8. As of March 2008, about 12.8 million persons have physical or mental disabilities including the mild-handicaps in Viet Nam. While the Government has provided financial support programs to the disabled, they remain restricted in accessing education opportunities leading to lack of life skills and job opportunities. Provision of schooling at secondary level is particularly limited. Until 2000, there was only one lower secondary school in the country which was able to accept disabled children and provide integrated education. In the school year (SY) 2007/2008, the country has 99,941 disabled students with receiving schooling. Among these students, 80,187 students are at primary schools, but only 17,329 at lower secondary schools (LSSs) and 2,425 at upper secondary schools (USSs). 9. Gender inequalities remained as one of major development challenges in remote, poor provinces. Adult literacy rates (age 15 and over) in 2000-2005 were 94% for male and 87% for female. One of the remaining inequalities that exist in Vietnam's secondary education is the disparity between female and male enrollments at all levels lower secondary education (LSE), upper secondary education (USE) and professional secondary education (PSE), and especially at the LSE level. While education gender disparity has declined in recent years, it persists among all ethnic groups and geographic regions. There are generally no differences in the percent of students attending secondary schools between Kinh and ethnic minority males (roughly 73% for both), but there is a 10 percentage point difference for female enrollments by ethnicity (71% for Kinh and 61% for ethnic minorities). This gender gap varies between ethnic groups and geographic region, but several study findings and multiple consultations identify ethnic minority females as the most disadvantaged group at the secondary education level. 10. Government's Development Strategy. The Socio-economic Development Plan (SEDP) 20062010 underscores the Governments commitment to 14 major economic and social policy targets, including (i) a slower population growth rate of 1.14%, (ii) reduced poverty, (iii) universal LSE, (iv) a reduction in the agricultural labor force to 50% of the total, (v) job creation and a stable unemployment rate, and (vi) less malnutrition. Key features of SEDP 20062010 are an emphasis on the equitable delivery of social services to disadvantaged groups, and a strong results orientation with performance indicators including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the localized Viet Nam development goals (VDGs). 11. Viet Nam's high rate of economic growth has had a positive impact on poverty and contributed to the progress and achievement of the MDG/VDG targets. The poverty incidence was reduced from more than 58 percent in 1993 to less than 20 percent in 2007. The literacy rate of people under 15 has reached 93% and Viet Nam has achieved the target of universal primary education. Most of the targets related to health care have been achieved. These significant achievements in MDGs/VGDs have boosted Viet Nams Human Development Index (HDI) to a high level compared with those of similar level income countries. |
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| Impact | A more equitable distribution of high quality secondary education. | |||
| Outcome | By 2015, the Program will strengthen the education policy and system to improve the national average learning outcomes of secondary students. | |||
| Outputs |
Output 1: Established Effective and Accountable Secondary Education Management
Output 2: Improved Quality for International Competitiveness Output 3: Enhanced Access and Equity for Disadvantaged Groups |
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Safeguard Categories
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| Environment | C | |||
| Resettlement | C | |||
| Indigenous People | B | |||
| Summary of Environmental and Social Issues | ||||
| Social Aspects | The proposed SESDP will provide direct benefits to ethnic minority- and poor students by increasing access to and affordability of LSE. The pilot CCT will address demand-side constraints and alleviate the direct and indirect costs of education. It will improve the human capital of children of poor households and reduce inter-generational poverty in the future. The pilot will also address supply gaps in the sector through community participation and school block grants and community awareness-raising activities will focus on demonstrating the benefits of school participation. The pilot is expected to have significant impacts on reducing poverty for poor households, increasing current attendance of children enrolled in school, increasing transition rates from LSS to USS, increasing the number of years of education completed by poor children and reducing child labor. In addition, support to continuing education and improved access for students with disabilities will address long-term constraints in providing equitable access to secondary education for groups that have traditionally been excluded from attaining higher education past primary school. | |||
| Environmental Aspects | No negative environment impact from the proposed Program is foreseen. The Program will finance only minor civil works to construct additional classrooms to the existing CECs or renovate the selected secondary schools to install the sloops for the wheelchairs for the disabled students. | |||
| Stakeholder Participation and Consultation | ||||
| During Project Design | The design of the Program is a result of extensive policy dialogue and workshops conducted over a number of years. The reviews currently being undertaken of the effective implementation of various aspects of the SESMP 2006-2010 have helped shape understanding around future needs and priorities. Numerous discussions have been held at central, provincial and district level with policy officers, principals, teachers, students and parents, to identify needs and possible solutions. | |||
| During Project Implementation | The Program will be implemented in close consultation with central and local stakeholders. For the policy reform program, the MOET and the MOF will share the responsibility for the inter-ministerial consultation and coordination to obtain consensus in the procedures and expected outcomes to fulfill the conditions for the tranche release. The participation of local stakeholders including communities, NGOs, women's union and district-level governments in the SESDP activities is essential for some subcomponents to be implemented in the disadvantaged regions. Communication and consultation strategies are required to encourage ethnic minority community support in particular for participation in LSE. Such strategies can use village assemblies as well as other state-sponsored village organizations. Ethnic minorities tend to be organized around the village and village authorities that consequently have considerable legitimacy. The gia lang or village council can become an element of Program strategies to reach ethnic minority communities. It will be appropriate to seek the support of the NGOs and prominent ethnic minority intellectuals who may have close links with their communities of origin. | |||
| Procurement | ||||
| Civil Works/Goods | For the program loan, the loan proceeds will be used to finance the full foreign exchange costs of items produced and procured in ADB member countries, excluding ineligible items and imports financed from other bilateral and multilateral sources. | |||
| Responsible ADB Officer |
Eiko Izawa |
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| Responsible ADB Department |
Southeast Asia Department |
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| Responsible ADB Division |
Social Sectors Division, SERD |
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| Executing Agencies |
Ministry of Education and Training H.E. Banh Tien Long, Vice Minister 49 Dai Co Street Hanoi, Viet Nam |
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| Timetable | ||||
| Concept Clearance | 26 Jun 2009 | |||
| Fact-finding | 22 Jun 2009 to 30 Jun 2009 | |||
| Appraisal | 03 Aug 2009 to 11 Aug 2009 | |||
| Board Approval | 25 Nov 2009 | |||
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