A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Regional and Ru ral Development Planning

Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2013

Education of ethnic minority children in Vietnam is facing many challen ges. The research aims to assess the current situation finding out the causes of non - enrollment, drop - out, and completion of ethnic minority children. E thnic minority childr en are divided into three groups, non - enrollment, drop - out and completion children. By doing comparison according to children{u201F}s conditions, household{u201F}s condition and different perspectives the research found that there are many causes of children{u201F}s non - enr ollment, drop - out, and completion related to ( i) Children{u201F}s condition, learning problems and moral aspects; (ii) Household{u201F}s social and economic problems; (iii) School{u201F}s conditions and teachers; and (iv) Social problems. The causes of non - enrollment and dr op - out are different by children{u201F}s conditions; however, causes of completion are almost no differences by children{u201F}s conditions. The causes are little different by household size, and parents{u201F} education situation but quite different by economic condition. The different perspectives lead to different causes of non - enrollment, and drop - out but the causes of completion are not remarkably different by different perspectives. The state and local government and the school have implemented several policies and m easures to overcome problems faced in non - enrollment, drop out and completion of ethnic mi nority children. However, the policies and measures have so much concentrated on supporting school facilities, books, notebooks, learning improvement for children but forgot moral aspects of children. Based on the findings of children{u201F}s problems of non - enrollment, drop - out and completion as well as gaps in policy implementation and measures, the research gives several recommendations which concentrate on supporting t o overcome the problems of children{u201F}s education.