All 3,351 schools with more than 1.4 million students from ethnic groups in the Central Highlands provinces celebrated the new school year on September 5. The Central Highlands provinces have mobilized hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong to invest in facilities and equipment at local schools ahead new academic year. Priorities have been given to building schools in remote and ethnic minority areas. Dak Lak province spent nearly VND300 billion ($13.2 million) sourced from local budget and other mobilized resources to build and upgrade 507 classrooms, houses for teachers, and buy teaching and learning equipment. Currently, almost all communes in the regional provinces have primary schools, junior high schools and nursery schools. Several localities have allocated local budget to buy textbooks and notebooks for ethnic minority students from poor and near-poor households. Covering 54,400 sq.km, the Centrla Highlands region consists of five provinces – Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Nong and Lam Dong, with a population of over 5.4 million, 25.7% of them ethnic minorities. (english.vov.vn Sept 5)
