2.27% of Vietnamese Aged 15-60 Illiterate: Ministry

Vietnam has more than 1.5 million illiterates between the ages of 15 and 60, though all provinces nationwide have reached the national standard for eliminating illiteracy in 2000 and implemented universal education program since then, an official from the Education and Training ministry has said. Head of the MoET’s Continuous Education Department Nguyen Cong Hinh disclosed the figure at a conference on eliminating illiteracy last week. The number of people attending literacy and post-literacy classes had decreased from 60,000 in the previous years to just over 28,000 in the 2014-2015 period, he noted. Mr. Hinh attributed the problem to the inactivity of some local authorities in the issue, causing people to have limited awareness. He added that the teachers involved in the illiteracy campaign were unprofessional as they were not able to attend any training courses. Speaking at the event, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Study Promotion Association Nguyen Tat Dong pointed out that illiteracy has become quite a serious issue, especially in the remote mountainous areas where its elimination was difficult, mainly because people there were too poor to focus on learning the Vietnamese language. (Vietbao.vn Sept 13, Thoi Bao Tai Chinh – Financial Times Sept 8, baohaiquan.vn Sept 8)