Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan on August 25 presented scholarships under the programme “Together with children to school” to needy students in the northern province of Hung Yen.

At the ceremony, a total of 120 scholarships worth 380 million VND (17,860 USD) were granted to local children from low-income families with the aim of encouraging them to continue their study.

The Vice President, who is also Chairwoman of the National Fund for Vietnamese Children’s Council, praised the children for overcoming their hardship to gain good academic results.

Established 22 years ago, the National Fund for Vietnamese Children has mobilised over 4 trillion VND (188.67 million USD) and assisted more than 28 million disadvantaged children.

According to the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, more than 200,000 children in Vietnam drop out of school each year with reasons varied, including to live too far away from school, with many from remote and mountainous areas having to walk around 5-10 km or even further to reach their school.

Nearly 1.5 million children are living in disadvantageous living conditions and over 2.5 million others are likely to fall victim to economic difficulties.