The reality as well as the solutions to the protection and upholding of special cultural identities of ethnic groups in the Central Highlands, especially the space of Gong culture, were among topics discussed at a seminar in Kon Tum city on August 2.

The event was jointly held by the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Popularisation and Education and the Steering Committee for the Central Highlands.

Delegates also focused on discussing policies to develop education, and the dialectic relationship between culture and education in the region.

Former Deputy Minister of Education and Training Dr. Dang Huynh Mai suggested regional provinces consider education a political task in order to ensure human resources to develop themselves.

The region should continue renovating education management, encouraging teaching and learning among the ethnic minorities, and paying attention to the education of ethnic groups in remote areas through policies to support the training of officials in these areas to increase the quality of human resources.

Regarding the preservation and upholding of Central Highlands culture, participants agreed on the need to accelerate information work through various activities, particularly targeting young people.

They proposed that the region should add the traditional culture of ethnic groups to the curriculum at schools, and establish a specific cultural preservation strategy, with the focus on the space of Gong culture, which was recognised by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage in 2005.

Localities also need to intensify the preservation and restoration of communal houses as well as the typical festivals and practices of ethnic minority groups in the region.-VNA