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The context in
Vietnam
The Government of
Vietnam has long placed children at the center of its human capital
investments. The late President Ho Chi Minh was specially referring to
young children when he said “when we grow a tree, it has a value for 10
years. But when we educate a person, that has value for one hundred
years”
Viet Nam has seen
remarkable development since Doi Moi or renewal (1986), with strong
economic growth, significant poverty reduction, and noticeable
improvements in the human capital of the population. Gross Domestic
Product has grown during the past 10 years by almost 300% and per capita
income by almost 500%. Viet Nam has made substantial progress in meeting
the Millennium Development Goals: reducing poverty from 58% to 17.15%
between 1993 and 2001; reaching near universal primary enrollment; and
increasing substantially the access to health care. Viet Nam has reduced
infant and child mortality substantially, with infant mortality dropping
from 44.2 per 1,000 in 1992 to around 18.0 in 2004.
Despite these
overall gains there are concerns about the quality of human capital and
growing income and human capital inequality. Although mortality has
declined, levels of malnutrition remain high. During the 1990s, the
level of child malnutrition (measured by the height for age) has
remained stable, with about a third of children stunted. There is
significant and growing regional inequality and many communes have not
fully benefited from the development seen in the past decade. Evidence
shows that the living standards of the poorest 30% of the population
have not increased substantially during the 1990s and that children from
poor households have not received the same level of investment as their
peers. Access to critical prenatal care, facilities for attended births,
and health care for infants is often limited or inaccessible to poor
women particularly in mountainous, remote areas, and difficult areas.
Children from poor and vulnerable households often have little access to
daycare, preschool and kindergarten, while home-based caregivers often
lack knowledge of early childhood, which puts them at a disadvantage
compared to other children when they enter primary school.
Continued progress
in poverty reduction requires more targeted and focused interventions
aimed at improving the welfare of groups that have not benefited from
economic growth and social development. Numerous studies have shown the
long-term negative effect of low investment in the first years,
including a reduced capacity to work, lower intellectual development,
and limited motor and social skills. In essence, children face the risk
of being trapped in a vicious circle of poverty, as their parents cannot
afford necessary investment in their human capital that they will need
as adults to escape from poverty.
Government
investment in ECD has been low but is increasing. ECD crosses the
traditional sectoral boundaries and the Government has developed a
number of strategies and policies to promote ECD, particularly focusing
on households in poor and remote regions and in difficult circumstances.
The Program for Action for Children, 2001-2010, is an omnibus program
that establishes quantitative targets and goals for children, covering
both health and education. In addition, the Population Strategy of
Vietnam, 2001-2010, the National Strategy for Reproductive Health Care,
2001-2010, the Education Strategy, 2001-2010, and the National Strategy
for Nutrition, 2001-2010, all specifically promote ECD as key to
sustainable and long-term poverty reduction.
Early Childhood
Development
Early childhood
development (ECD) incorporates this holistic view of child development.
It focuses on the importance of providing the essential supports that a
young child needs to survive and succeed in life as well as the supports
a family and community need to promote healthy child development. It is
a relatively new field which is based on developmental psychology and
child rights, and combines elements from the areas of health and
nutrition, community development, sociology, and economics.
The first years of
life are the most critical and formative to future growth and
development. This is when the brain matures and personality develops and
when psychological and social patterns of bonding with caregivers and
the community at large are established. For children, there is a strong
synergistic relationship among health, nutrition and development.
Children must receive adequate protection, food, and health in addition
to affection, interaction and stimulation, and learning through
exploration and discovery. All areas of survival, growth and development
are intimately related and mutually supportive. Failing to invest in one
critical area will lower the child’s capacity to grow in other areas.
The Technical
Assistance
ADB has been active
in promoting human development in Viet Nam, with projects in health,
nutrition, population, and education. The Partnership Agreement signed
between and the Government and ADB identifies inclusive social
development as an important area for continued cooperation in achieving
the joint agenda of poverty reduction. ADB support for ECD, is a logical
and supportive extension of these activities and is an important avenue
for focusing ADB's support for poverty reduction on children.
The long-term goal
of the TA is to support Viet Nam in the development of a safe and
healthy environment for children from poor and vulnerable households
that will provide them with greater opportunity to reach their full
human potential. To achieve this long-term goal, the TA has several
objectives including: (i) understanding the
current status and availability of ECD programs, particularly in poor
and remote areas; (ii) developing appropriate qualitative and
quantitative survey instruments for the TA and for research and policy
work in ECD; and (iii)
increasing stakeholders' awareness and support for ECD as a key
instrument to break the vicious circle of poverty.
The main outputs of
the TA include: (i) a detailed needs assessment of ECD, including child
health, nutrition, childcare, and preschool education, and (ii) an
integrated investment strategy to advocate and promote ECD, including
identification of the financing gap and identification of financing
sources.
The TA team
includes national and international specialists on early child health
and nutrition; early childhood education and economist who have been
working under the leadership of a team leader as well as the Project
Steering Committee chaired by the Viet Nam CPFC and members from lin
Ministries (health, education, labor-invaldi and social affaires,
cultural and communication). A project management unit based on
Scientific Institute for Population, Family and Children (VCPFC) has
been established to provide administrative and management support for
the TA team.
The team has
cooperated well with relevant institutions, organizations and ministries
to conduct consultations, workshops (at national avd provincial level),
forums, data analysis, field studies to the three technical component
reports on early child health and nutrition; early childhood education
and ECD investment. Strategic recommendations are included in the TA
general report and published in English annd Vietnamese.
The TA “Early
childhood development for the poor ” funded by ADB offically commence in
November 2003 and end in June 2006. |
