Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Children Support Fund Council, on August 14 presented 120 scholarships worth 380 million VND (17,860 USD) to needy students in the central coastal province of Ninh Thuan, as part of the “Together with children to school” programme.

On the occasion, the Vice President gave gifts to Vietnamese heroic mothers and social welfare beneficiary families in Cong Hai commune, Thuan Bac district, and presented 50 million VND to the communal scholarship fund to assist poor students from ethnic minority groups.

Hoang Van Tien, Director of the Vietnam Children Support Fund, said two programmes aiming to encourage students to overcome their difficulties to go to school were launched in September 2012 and received support from donors.

They have granted scholarships worth nearly 30 billion VND (over 1.4 million USD) to disadvantaged children in 56 out of the 63 provinces and cities nationwide.

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.-VNA