A monk teaches the Khmer language to children at Sro Lon Pagoda in Soc Trang province (Photo: tuyengiao.vn) Kien Giang (VNA) – Local authorities in the southern province of Kien Giang has opened 297 classes of Khmer language this summer, attracting 7,325 monks and children of the Khmer ethnic group, according to the provincial Board of Ethnic Affairs.
Most of the classes are located in Buddhist temples, with teachers being monks and the elderly in the Khmer community.
The provincial People’s Committee has allocated funding to support teachers of the classes and buy textbooks for learners.
According to the provincial Department of Education and Training, 35 local schools taught Khmer language as part of their curricula, benefiting 4,870 students in the 2015-2016 academic year.
Kien Giang is home to around 50,950 Khmer households with more than 216,850 people, making up 12.5 percent of the province’s population. Local Khmer ethnic mainly live on agriculture, and a majority of them reside in remote areas.
Besides Khmer language teaching, Kien Giang has been striving to offer improved education and training to the local Khmer ethnic group, with positive outcomes recorded.
The rate of school participation of ethnic children between six and 14 years olds was above 96 percent in the 2014-2015 academic year. The year also saw 100 and 98.7 percent of ethnic students completing primary and secondary education, respectively.-VNA
