Ninh Thuan enhances quality of ethnic minority language teaching

Ninh Thuan (VNA) – The south central province of Ninh Thuan has rolled out measures to improve the quality of teaching the languages of Cham and Raglai ethnic minority groups with an aim to enhance literacy among the communities as well as maintain and promote the value of the languages.

In the 2020-2021 academic year, Ninh Thuan will continue the teaching of Cham for second to fifth graders in 24 primary schools in areas inhabited by Cham communities, while compiling a Raglai language textbook for primary schools in Bac Ai and Thuan Bac district where there are large numbers of Raglai ethnics.

Teachers will receive further training in the field, while language teaching materials will be compiled to help them with the work.

According to Director of the provincial Department of Education and Training Nguyen Hue Khai, over the years, Cham has been the only ethnic minority language officially taught in local schools since 2010.

After 10 years, Ninh Thuan has expanded Cham language teaching to 24 schools, with 288 classes and 8,126 students by 54 teachers in the 2019-2020 school year.

Hue held that the teaching of the language has contributed to encouraging students to go to school, reducing the number of school dropout. This is also a practical solution to conserve and promote the cultural value of Cham people, he added.

Hue said that in October 2019, the People’s Committee of Ninh Thuan approved the Raglai language script, which is being used as the foundation for the compilation of a Raglai language textbook for pilot teaching of the language in some primary schools.

Ninh Thuan has asked for support from the Ministry of Education and Training in standardising the quality of ethnic minority language teachers, investing in reference books, and organising conferences for localities to share experience in the work.

Ninh Thuan is home to 34 ethnic minority groups with more than 144,200 people, accounting for 24.43 percent of the province’s total population. Of the figure, more than 67,270 people are from Cham group and over 58,910 are from Raglai group, accounting for 11.9 percent and 10.42 percent of the total population, respectively./.