Why are we in Vietnam?

Since the 1980’s, Vietnam has been transforming its economy, political structure, and education system. According to the World Education News and Reviews, Vietnam’s GDP grew by 3303% between 1990 and 2016, making Vietnam the second-fastest growing country behind its northern neighbor China. Its labor force, previously dominated by agricultural laborers, has continued to shift to industry and service workers to the volume of 1 million people a year. In parallel, students in Vietnam have also benefited from the country’s transformation. As an initiative to boost the economy, the Vietnamese government increased its spending on education-related expenses to roughly 5.7% of GDP in 2013 and 20% of the state budget. This surge in funding has resulted in a net increase in intake rates and a decrease in the number of students repeating grades or dropping out. Youth literacy rate has increased from 93% in 2002 to 97% in 2012. The number of students enrolled in higher education has nearly increased by 20x between 1987 and 2015 from 133,000 to 2.12 million. 

Despite the commendable efforts implemented across the education spectrum, not all students are given a fair chance to reap the benefits of a full academic career. Before 2005, students were only required to complete schooling up to grade five. Since then, the minimum requirement has risen to grade nine, though there is no strict enforcement of this new guideline. Students can attend elementary school free of tuition, but are still required to pay out of pocket for textbooks, uniforms, and school supplies. Beyond elementary school, students have to pay tuition for secondary (grade six to twelve) and higher education. During the 2015-2016 school year, the tuition for higher education averaged between $262 and $385 per year while more elite universities charged up to $1,000 per year.

When Chau and Thai-Anh visited their first orphanage in Vietnam in 2011, the pair identified the orphans they met as an underserved demographic, hindered not only by their poverty but also by their lack of social, mental, and logistical means to obtain a proper education. The current system in Vietnam only left them with two options: (1) stay in the stifled orphanage ecosystem, or (2) leave to work without a sufficient education or social training to be a productive member of society. This lack of support may perpetuate a lifetime of poverty for many of these children. While orphans have benefited from the modern wave of international and domestic adoption and volunteer tourism, there lacked a long-term, holistic resource for them, one that would provide basic needs, mentorship, and social support. That is the missing puzzle piece that OrFA aims to fill through its scholarship and mentorship programs.