OUR PROJECTS

School projects

IPACE aims at increasing the number of schooled children in poor provinces of Vietnam through various projects such as construction or renovation of classrooms and sanitary facilities.

IPACE focuses on kindergarten construction projects as local governments’ limited budgets are allocated primarily to primary schools and above. Kindergarten does not belong to the compulsory education in Vietnam. The lack of suitable infrastructures represents an important challenge for preschools which often lack classrooms.

Nevertheless, IPACE also finances primary school projects in very remote areas where the population is made up of ethnic minorities who are often marginalised and whose local governments are financially unable to provide adequate facilities at the primary education level.

PRIMARY SCHOOL - SUR A - IA KO – CHU SE -
GIA LAI

June 2024

A Buddhist charity based in Saigon has sought IPACE's support to provide a better future for the children of the primary school in Sur A village, located in Ia Ko commune, Chu Se district, Gia Lai province, Vietnam. Through this partnership, we aim to transform lives and bring lasting change to the children of this community.

Ia Ko commune covers an area of 38.93 km² and is home to 6,060 inhabitants living in 1,339 households. Each of the five villages has both a kindergarten and a primary school, and the population lives mainly from agriculture.

Sur A village, with its 1,764 inhabitants in 346 households, is predominantly made up of members of the Jaraï ethnic minority, living in the highlands of central Vietnam. These families depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, and children often face considerable educational challenges.

The Sur A primary school, built in 2005 with only three classrooms, saw two additional classrooms added in 2020. Currently, the school accommodates seven classes with only five classrooms available, forcing some pupils to study in a temporarily adapted community room. This situation is unsustainable for quality education. Each class has between 30 and 44 students, following the new educational program with two sessions per day.

Despite their best efforts, the local authorities do not have the financial resources to build the necessary additional classrooms and sanitary facilities. In this predominantly agricultural commune, financial resources are limited, and a single sanitation block is shared between the primary and kindergarten schools, insufficient to meet the daily needs of all the students.

To change this reality and offer a promising future to the children, IPACE has taken the initiative of financing the construction of two additional classrooms so that each pupil can study in a stable and conducive learning environment, along with sanitary facilities to ensure adequate hygiene and the well-being of the children.

The local authorities have also shown their support by providing the necessary furniture and undertaking to pay teachers' salaries.

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All stages of construction

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The two newly built classrooms and new sanitary facilities

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Classrooms' inauguration with the schoolchildren

KINDERGARTEN - PHU THUAN - PHU TAN - CA MAU

June 2023

The Buddhist charity of Cà Mau province, which is chaired by a nun, sought the help of IPACE to finance the construction of two classrooms and two additional sanitary facilities at the Hoa Hồng kindergarten in Phú Thuận municipality, Phú Tân district, Cà Mau province, Vietnam.

The total area of Phú Thuận commune is 4,325.5 ha. The local population comprises 2,582 poor families with a total of 9,583 individuals. The inhabitants make their living from agriculture, fish farming, services and petty trade.

The Hoa Hồng kindergarten was built in 2006 and had three classrooms. Each classroom could accommodate 25 pupils for a total capacity of 75 pupils. Over the past few years, the number of pupils per class has increased beyond the norm set by the Ministry of Education, with 109 pupils, making learning very difficult. As the school has far exceeded its capacity, it could no longer accept new pupils. Those who could not go to school had to stay at home and weren't enrolled.

Private nursery school fees are too expensive for families in rural areas. Skipping preschool has a detrimental effect on children's development and on parents' ability to go out to work, depriving the family of a significant part of income.

Next to the kindergarten, there were two former primary classrooms that were in use until 2013. These two classrooms were in a state of serious disrepair and could no longer be renovated as the foundations and walls were too damaged and in danger of collapsing. In 2013, the school's pupils were moved to the primary school in the centre of the commune. The demolition and reconstruction of the two dilapidated classrooms will solve the school's capacity problem. In addition, the school had sanitary facilities, but the number was insufficient given the large number of pupils attending school. The construction of two new toilets was therefore welcome.

With the participation of the municipality, IPACE financed the cost of demolishing and rebuilding the two classrooms, as well as the construction of two new sanitary facilities enabling the school's capacity to be increased (from 75 to 125 pupils) to accommodate all the disadvantaged kindergarten-age children living in this part of the commune. Improved learning and hygiene conditions will also enable schoolchildren to better prepare for their entry into primary school.

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Demolition and reconstruction of classrooms

The two newly built classrooms and new sanitary facilities

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Classrooms' inauguration with the schoolchildren

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On the occasion of the inauguration of the new classrooms and sanitary facilities, IPACE also brought together 10 students from the commune to offer them a bicycle. These students, aged between 12 and 15, come from underprivileged families and live in rural areas which are far away from their school. The bicycle will help them to get to school more easily, by considerably reducing their travel time.

PRIMARY SCHOOL - PAN - DUN - GIA LAI

June 2022

A Buddhist charity based in Saïgon sought the help of IPACE to finance the construction of two classrooms and sanitary facilities for the primary school located in Pan village, Dun municipality, Chu Se district, Gia Lai province, Vietnam.

The village of Pan has 1,093 people divided in 304 households who are mainly members of the Jarai ethnic group, an ethnic minority who lives mainly in the central highlands of Vietnam. Its inhabitants live from agriculture. The main crops are cassava, rice, corn and coffee. The municipality of Dun has a main school with kindergarten, primary and secondary classes, located in the centre of the municipality. It is located more than 7 km from the village of Pan. Many families do not have means of transport to take their children to the main school. Given their young age, it is difficult for primary school children to get there and cover such a long distance on their own.

To reduce illiteracy, the government has built "school sites" in the villages. These sites only include kindergartens and primary schools to facilitate school attendance for children of school age. These schools are satellites of the main school. The village of Pan therefore has a "school site" with a primary school. The school is located 1.5 km from the village’s centre. 100% of the students in the school are from ethnic minorities. Currently, the school has 3 classrooms. Each classroom has about 30 students. These classrooms cannot fully cover the teaching of pupils from 1st to 5th primary because the children have to study there all day. Therefore, the village lacks two classrooms. Some of the pupils have their class in municipal houses while the others stay at home. In addition, the school has no access to a water point and no sanitary facilities.

The municipal authorities do not have the funds to build additional classrooms and sanitary facilities. The local economic situation is difficult, the municipality is in zone 2 which is classified as very poor. Most of the population are ethnic minorities and therefore the local government revenues are not reached. In order to improve the educational environment of primary students of this village, IPACE funded the construction costs of:

two additional classrooms, so that all the pupils of the primary school can study there permanently and in good learning conditions,
sanitary facilities so that they can study in adequate hygienic conditions.

The Buddhist Charity covered the unforeseen finishing costs, while the Vietnamese Red Cross financed the construction of a water well to supply water for the toilets. The municipal authorities provided the furniture and will pay the teachers ‘salaries.

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All stages of construction

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The two newly built classrooms and new sanitary facilities

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Classrooms' inauguration with the schoolchildren

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At the inauguration of the classrooms and sanitary facilities, IPACE distributed school supplies and schoolbags to the children who will study in these two new classrooms.

IPACE also offered bicycles to underprivileged children who have completed their studies at this school and now have to travel a longer distance to the secondary school located in the main school in the municipality.

KINDERGARTEN - LAM HAI - CA MAU

October 2020

The Buddhist charity of the province of Cà Mau, which is chaired by a nun, asked IPACE for help to finance the construction of two classrooms and sanitary facilities for the kindergarten located in the municipality of Lâm Hải, district of Năm Căn, Province of Cà Mau in Vietnam.

Năm Căn is an isolated, poor district with a low population density (1 person per 5 hectares). People of the district live, among other things, by raising shrimps, crabs, and making charcoal from mangrove trees. Poor people of the province are without regular occupation. They work on demand. The municipality of Lâm Hải has 6,800 people divided into 1,239 families. The town has 11 hamlets of which only 3 are accessible by road, the others by boat.

Kindergarten classrooms are lacking in Lâm Hải. Schoolchildren who cannot attend Lâm Hải's kindergarten must study in other communes if the latter accept them. Otherwise, they have to stay home and do not attend school. Skipping preschool has a detrimental effect on the development of children and hampers the ability of parents to go to work and thus generate income.

With the participation of the municipality, IPACE financed the construction costs of two kindergarten classrooms as well as sanitary facilities allowing the kindergarten of Lâm Hải to host in good conditions about 70 additional schoolchildren per year.