Launching Ceremony of Inclusive Education in Vietnam
Excellencies, distinguished guests, and participants. We are honored to have Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Chi, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, Mr. Takio Yamada, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr. Charles North, Deputy CEO of Global Partnership for Education, and Ms. Le Thi Huong, Country Director of Save the Children in Vietnam. Today we have gathered to celebrate the start of an inclusive educational partnership and I am very excited to be part of this program.
One World One Family. This is the basic philosophy of The Nippon Foundation. We see the world as one family and all our activities transcend politics, ideology, religion, race, and national borders in achieving an inclusive society. Here in Vietnam, we have been providing support, exceeding 30 million US dollars, in a wide range of fields for over 30 years, such as in the health sector, capacity building, and support for people with disabilities. Among them, our priority is, and has been to focus our efforts on further development of education for all children who bear the future of the country.
I am impressed by the government of Vietnam which continues to be strongly committed towards the realization of national social inclusion. Solidarity among the ethnic groups have been established. Efforts have been made to address urban and rural disparities. Support models have been considered for children with disabilities. Moving still further, now the government is focusing on what could be a challenging issue. This is to develop an inclusive educational environment for both the children of ethnic minorities and those with disabilities to be able to receive high quality education. And we are most pleased to be able to collaborate in this endeavor.
Distinguished participants, my action philosophy is “that both problems and answers exist in the field”. Tomorrow, I will be visiting two schools that are implementing this program. There, I will try to identify further areas for improvement and thereby continue to work so that this project will become a model of inclusive education in Vietnam.
I express my sincere gratitude to Deputy Minister Chi for taking time from your busy schedule to attend this ceremony. Your presence signifies the strong expectation of your government to this initiative. Under the continued guidance of your Ministry and in collaboration with internationally recognized GPE and Save the Children, we, The Nippon Foundation are committed to work with determination so that in three years the Ministry of Education and Training can confidently expand this model nationwide. Thank you very much.