Up to 106 primary schools are offering lessons on Jrai and Bahnar languages to pupils of ethnic groups as a move to keep them from falling into oblivion.
The move, underway since 2008, is in pursuant to the Ministry of Education and Training’s guideline of improving education quality in ethnic areas and keeping Jrai and Bahnar languages alive.
Four classes per week designed for 11,200 Jrai and Bahmar third-fifth graders have been added to their main curricula. All the 286 qualified teachers are native speakers who have received professional training.
Necessary materials and teaching equipment are made available while five different Vietnamese-ethnic minority language dictionaries are being compiled.
Authorities in the Central Highlands have also collected, compiled and published many bilingual book titles in Vietnamese and ethnic languages, then provided them to hamlets and villages in the region.
Besides, local stations have broadcast programmes in ethnic languages. Other forms of media are also on the way to become more accessible.
The Vietnamese News Agency has joined in the efforts with the launch of bilingual news and pictorial magazine entitled Dan toc va Mien Nui (Nationalities and Mountain Areas) in Vietnamese and five ethnic minority languages, including Ede and Bahnar this August.-VNA
