Children of disadvantaged migrants in four Ho Chi Minh City districts with high migrant populations will receive educational and health assistance under a project run by the HCM City Children Welfare Association.

Education and health care were basic rights of all children including migrants, and the programme was aimed at ensuring these basic rights, Luong Thi Thuan, the association's chairwoman, said.

Funded by the Danish Vietnamese Association, the three-year, 465,000 USD project - in 12 wards and communes in Districts Tan Phu, 7, 8, and Binh Chanh — began this month, she added.

Free classes would be organised for migrant children who drop out of school, according to Nguyen Ngoc Phuc, the project co-ordinator.

All disadvantaged children would be provided with scholarships to cover tuition fees and money for books and other learning aids, he said.

They would also get vocational training scholarships and health and accident insurance, he said.

Young migrants with unintended pregnancies would get reproductive health care, while children would be taught living skills and how to prevent HIV/AIDS transmission and sexual abuse, he said.

Nguyen Thanh Phung, head of the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs' children protection division, said that the city's economic development attracted a large number of people from other provinces and cities, who came to live and work with their children.

Besides, a large of children came on their own looking for jobs, she said.

All these children had difficulty accessing education and health care, she said, hoping the project would help improve things.

City leaders had instructed district authorities to focus on creating a safe environment for children, including migrants, and ensure children's rights, she said.

The city had increased the allocation of funds for children's programmes, she added.-VNA