Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long has signed a decision approving a project aimed at expanding equitable access to high-quality education for ethnic minority people, enabling them to pursue studies in key sectors and fields with high demand for skilled labourers.
Under Decision No. 2776/QD-TTg, the project on training high-quality human resources from ethnic minority communities for the 2026–2035 period, with a vision to 2045, reflects the Government’s commitment to building a core ethnic minority workforce to serve socio-economic development and ensure national defence and security, particularly in ethnic minority, mountainous, border and island areas.
The project applies to ethnic minority pupils, students and trainees living in ethnic minority, mountainous, border and island areas, or belonging to poor households, who pursue studies in key sectors and fields. University preparatory schools, vocational education institutions, higher education institutions, academies, research institutes and relevant agencies and organisations are also involved in its implementation.
During 2026–2035, it targets annual enrolment of 2,000–2,500 new students at college and university levels, including 1,000–1,500 students with strong potential to be developed into a core workforce for ethnic minority and mountainous regions.
Learners in health-related fields are expected to account for 7–10% of the total enrolment, agriculture and forestry 5–10%, tourism 5–10%, with the remainder in other sectors.
The number of ethnic minority students trained at master’s and doctoral levels is projected to increase by at least 10% annually, while enrolment in university preparatory programmes is also expected to grow by no less than 10% each year.
In the 2026–2030 period, training will focus on health care, information technology, agriculture, finance and banking, teacher training, tourism and social work. Additional sectors will be introduced in the 2030–2035 phase in line with socio-economic development requirements in ethnic minority areas.
Priority will be given to improving the capacity and quality of the training system, particularly ethnic minority boarding and semi-boarding schools and university preparatory institutions. Targeted investment will also be made in a number of key higher education institutions to ensure adequate facilities, curricula and teaching staff.
The project will promote digital transformation in education through a unified digital training management platform, and the application of artificial intelligence and big data in enrolment, learner management and workforce demand forecasting. A multilingual digital learning resource system, including Vietnamese and several widely-spoken ethnic minority languages, will also be developed.
It further calls for mobilising diversified resources, with the state budget playing a leading role alongside public–private partnerships and the participation of enterprises, private training institutions and other lawful social resources.
Another focus is linking training with the labour market to ensure sustainable employment outcomes. Training institutions will strengthen cooperation with enterprises, employment service centres and local authorities to provide career counselling and job placement for learners.
The project also highlights the need to refine tailored policies for ethnic minority learners, including tuition fee exemptions and reductions, support for study and living expenses and accommodation, as well as foreign language and information technology training.
Career guidance, communications and international cooperation will be strengthened to inspire learning aspirations and create opportunities for outstanding ethnic minority students to study and participate in exchange programmes abroad, contributing to long-term human resource development./.
