(MissionNewswire) The Salesian-run Tan Tien Intermediate Vocational Training School, located in Bao Loc, Vietnam, was selected as a model school for 2019 for its development and academic performance in the province of Lam Dong. On Nov. 5, the Executive Committee of the Province of Lam Dong went to the vocational training school to record various lessons to highlight the education that the students are receiving.

The school is directed by Father Nguyen Anh Tuan and is operated by seven Salesian missionaries and 24 lay staff in cooperation with the local Salesian sisters’ community. More than 300 students each year gain an education at the school. From its start in 1991, the Tan Tien Vocational School has trained more than 3,000 youth.

More than 10 percent of the students are from ethnic minority families and have financial challenges paying for school. Nearly all of the students board at the school. At the end of the 2017 school year, 100 percent of the students graduated with high enough scores to be able to further advance their studies at the university level or find stable employment.

Salesian schools, services and programs throughout Vietnam are helping to break the cycle of poverty while giving many young people hope for a more positive and productive future. Salesian vocational and technical schools equip students with the skills they need to compete in the local labor market by offering courses that lead to employment in construction, hotel management, electrical and mechanical engineering, computer science and other fields. Many Salesian students are school dropouts seeking a second chance.

“Salesian education responds to market demand, ensuring that youth have access to the education that will help them find employment,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Students in these programs have a real opportunity to enter the workforce prepared both in terms of the skills they have learned and in their social development, ensuring a lifelong ability to retain livable wage employment.”

According to the World Bank, close to 14 percent of Vietnam’s population lives in conditions of poverty. The country has seen a drastic reduction of poverty over the last 20 years when the poverty rate was close to 60 percent. Vietnam has also made remarkable progress in education. Primary and secondary enrollments for those in poverty have reached more than 90 percent and 70 percent respectively.

Rising levels of education and diversification into off-farm activities such as working in construction, factories or domestic housework have also contributed to reducing poverty in the country. Salesian programs give impoverished children and families opportunities that are typically only available to the middle and upper classes so that all people can have hope for a better future.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Vietnam – “Don Bosco Tan Tien Vocational School”, a model school

Salesian Missions – Vietnam

World Bank – Vietnam