Hello, my name is Monican Bruce. I will be running an informational blog series about nonprofits that help with children in Vietnam. Many of these nonprofits help with education as well as health.
Room to Read is a global organization that has transformed the lives of millions of children in low-income countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Working alongside with local communities, partner organizations and governments, Room to Read develop literacy skills along with a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.
https://www.roomtoread.org/
John Wood, the founder, and co-chair started room to read in 1999 after he visited local schools in Nepal. It was because of the shocking lack of resources he was driven to the cause. He quit is senior executive position with Microsoft and built a global team to work with rural villages in developing areas to build sustainable solutions to their education.
https://www.roomtoread.org/AnnualReport/2015/index.html
As of 2015 Room to Read reach their ten millionth child through their literacy and girl’s education program five years ahead of their projected goal.
Recently the Vietnamese government’s educational policies closely align with Room to Read program areas, allowing them to collaborate with the government and amplify their impact. The country’s national standards require libraries for all primary schools, providing them with a great opportunity to scale their Literacy Program. Room to Read is partnering with the government so that they can implement their library model across the country. With the government’s focus on gender equality, provincial education departments and schools are also now responsible for providing life skills training for students, and mentoring and counseling for girls. Room to Read plans to help by expanding our Girls’ Education Program in Vietnam.
Vietnam became their second country of operation in 2001. Room to Read has worked to improve the country’s school libraries since then, and in 2015 succeeded in influencing Vietnam’s national education policy. In December, they signed an agreement with Vietnam’s Ministry of Education that launched a new “Friendly Primary School Library Program” in government primary schools nationwide. The program will uses their librarian training model, establishment practices and library period curriculum to help students across the country build a habit of reading.
Room to Read Vietnam currently operates in government schools within Thai Nguyen, Ha Tinh, Dak Lak, Tuyen Quang, Bac Giang, Binh Dinh, Can Tho, Long An, Ho Chi Minh City, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, and Tra Vinh.
https://vn.linkedin.com/in/phong-le-tien-06403552
Phong Tien Le is the county director in Vietnam for Room to Read. He has worked for a number of large organizations in Vietnam and has also been a consultant for donor institutions such as GTZ, UNIDO, FAO, AUSAID, and the World Bank. For the past three years, he has been the Southern Regional Manager for ActionAid/Vietnam which has been implementing a well-regarded education program throughout the country. Phong has a master’s degree in natural resource management, with a specialization in sustainable development, from the International Institute of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation in the Netherlands.
Girls in low-income communities often lack positive role models who can help guide and support them in their pursuit of an education. Room to Read address this challenge by providing their girls’ education program participants with social mobilizers who act as mentors and advocates for the girls. Over the years, they have built strong models for how to effectively provide mentoring support, and last year the Vinh Long Department of Education asked their Vietnam team to organize two workshops to share our learning in this area. The workshops were attended by 150 teachers who are in charge of student services at 120 secondary schools across Vinh Long. The attendees, who work at non-Room to Read schools, learned about the role mentoring plays in girls’ development, as well as various activities for engaging and supporting their students.
In Vietnam, 94 percent of girls in their program passed the national exam. More than half of those girls went on to pursue a tertiary education.
https://www.roomtoread.org/the-latest/vietnam-government-creates-250plus-libraries-from-room-to-read-model/
In 2010, Room to Read began working with the Vinh Long government, school, and community to set up the province’s first 13 libraries. Before this time, very few of the 199 local primary schools had a standard library. Given the strong relationship between Room to Read and the Vinh Long government an agreement was signed between Room to Read and the Ministry of Education and Training. Starting in 2017 for every four libraries established by Room to Read, the provincial department of Education & Training will create one replica library.
This shows how Room to Reads literacy program, along with the girl’s education program, can lead to a country-wide change in the future of children’s education.
If you are interested in donating to this non-profit please see the first link posted at the beginning of the blog. Through their website, you can donate.
Children's Education in Vietnam 