Vu A Dinh scholarship fund

Ethnic minority pupils in remote villages, mountainous areas and forests are among those facing many difficulties in their studies. In implementing the directions of the Party and the State, and contributing to the goals of poverty reduction, gender equality and education, through practical, persistent and continuous activities, the Vu A Dinh scholarship fund was established in 1999 following the proposal of Thieu nien Tien phong Newspaper, now Thieu nien Tien phong va Nhi dong Newspaper. The Fund is chaired by Ms Truong My Hoa, former Vice President of Vietnam, and Thieu nien Tien phong va Nhi dong Newspaper is the Standing Agency of the Fund.

Over 25 years of operation, the Vu A Dinh scholarship fund has contributed to helping the children overcome prejudice, gain the conditions to study, have opportunities to rise up and affirm themselves, and bring them a better life in the future. Since its establishment, the Fund has operated persistently and steadfastly, maintaining the call for benefactors and mobilising social resources to create conditions for ethnic minority pupils and students, and those from island and coastal areas, to complete their studies, while also working with the State to care for and train the younger generation.

From its initial simple activity of awarding annual scholarships, the Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund has mobilised additional organisations and individuals passionate about education to implement 5 highly practical in-depth projects at the same time, supporting the students and their families so they can feel secure in their studies and contributing to the training of young human resources for local communities, specifically:

Project “Uom mam tuong lai” (Nurturing Future Seeds)

Mobilising private boarding schools in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Can Tho to receive ethnic minority students and students from island and coastal areas to study in the city, supporting their study and living expenses for 7 years of lower and upper secondary education. After 15 years of operation, to date, 22 private schools and 5 sponsoring companies have helped “nurture” 665 students from mountainous, border and island regions, belonging to 32 ethnic groups from 42 provinces and cities across the country, who have benefited from the project’s scholarships.

Project “Chap canh uoc mo” (Giving Wings to Dreams)

Mobilising benefactors to support scholarships for 7 years of lower and upper secondary education for ethnic minority students or students from island and coastal areas who are facing difficult circumstances and studying in their local communities.

Project “Mo duong den tuong lai” (Opening the Way to the Future)

The Fund has collaborated with VinaCapital Foundation (VCF) to provide scholarships for 100 studious ethnic minority girls from disadvantaged backgrounds across provinces and cities. This scholarship supports the students for 3 years of upper secondary education and 4 years of university. In addition to support for study and living expenses, the students are also provided with computers to support their learning, take part in activities to improve soft skills, and meet, exchange and learn from successful women who have made many contributions to society through the annual “Ngay hoi uoc mo” (Dream Festival) programs. The project has given the students opportunities to study, develop themselves and mature.

Project “Ho tro sinh vien” (Student Support)

Mobilising benefactors or universities to provide scholarships for students over 4 years of university, especially students from the projects “Uom mam tuong lai” and “Chap canh uoc mo” when they graduate from upper secondary school and are admitted to universities.

Project “Thap sang tuong lai” (Lighting Up the Future)

The project focuses on supporting the construction of rural bridges and roads to create favourable conditions for students to get to school and for people in remote and isolated areas to travel more easily. In particular, the project has also repaired and built school sites and semi-boarding houses in highland areas in a more solid and safe manner, helping them withstand the harsh weather conditions of Vietnam’s mountainous regions, thereby protecting the safety and health of the students so they can feel secure in living and studying. At the same time, these boarding houses are also fully equipped with beds, wardrobes, bookshelves, clean sanitation facilities, and hot and cold water to protect children’s health.

The Vu A Dinh scholarship fund also established the “Vi Hoang Sa - Truong Sa than yeu” Club (For Beloved Hoang Sa and Truong Sa) with the purpose of caring for and supporting children of fishermen in coastal areas and children of forces performing law enforcement duties at sea and on islands. The project has carried out activities such as awarding regular scholarships and in-depth training scholarships, building charity houses, building schools, and organising programs to show gratitude to soldiers and fishermen who are carrying out the task of protecting the skies and seas of the Fatherland of Vietnam.

Objective

The operational objective of the Vu A Dinh scholarship fund is to care for and create supportive conditions for ethnic minority students in remote and isolated areas, children of fishermen in island and coastal regions, and children of military forces carrying out the duty of protecting the Fatherland’s seas and islands, supporting them to complete their studies, develop skills, and contribute to training young human resources with knowledge and capacity for the mountainous, border, and island and coastal regions of the Fatherland. This is a sustainable objective with profound humanitarian significance.

Vision

In the future, alongside the country’s development and the trend of international integration, the training of a young generation with knowledge and firm political conviction according to global citizen standards will receive increasing attention. The Vu A Dinh scholarship fund will strive, together with the education sector, to equip the students with specialised knowledge and skills suited to global trends, helping them develop the right attitude to life and a professional working style so they can contribute to building the country in the new era.

Implementation Process – Scope

The Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund operates across the entire territory of Vietnam, throughout provinces and cities from North to South. The beneficiaries are ethnic minority pupils and students; children of fishermen in coastal and island areas; and children of military forces carrying out the duty of protecting island and coastal areas, including the Navy, Border Guard, Coast Guard, Fisheries Surveillance and others.

The Fund’s implementation process includes the following activities: 1 annual scholarship awarding program, 5 in-depth investment projects and 1 club.

Regular scholarship awarding program: In the first years after its establishment, the Fund awarded several hundred scholarships, each valued at VND 400,000. To date, the Fund has expanded its short-term support activities, striving each year to award 5,000 scholarships to ethnic minority students and 3,000 scholarships to students from island and coastal areas and children of forces carrying out maritime law enforcement duties, with a value of VND 1,000,000 per scholarship for students at primary, lower secondary and upper secondary levels, and VND 1,500,000 per scholarship for university level. To date, this program has been implemented in 51 provinces and cities, 27 school units, and 21 military units carrying out the duty of protecting seas and islands.
In-depth investment projects: Not only stopping at broad-based activities, from 2009, the Fund adopted the direction of in-depth investment, so it could provide practical support for students to complete their studies from lower secondary school through to university and achieve the objective of training future human resources for the country. The projects “Uom mam tuong lai”, “Chap canh uoc mo”, “Thap sang tuong lai”, and “Mo duong den tuong lai” were established one after another, with increasingly developed scale. After two years of implementation, as the projects succeeded and showed strong development potential, the Fund began expanding the model and scaling it more widely; to date, 22 private schools and 5 companies have taken part in supporting the students. Not only stopping at helping the students gain basic foundational knowledge by graduating from upper secondary school, the Vu A Dinh Fund has moved towards specialised training, with the project “Ho tro sinh vien” established in 2020 to help the students complete university.

In addition, with the objective “Cong chu len non - Cho chu ra bien - Don chau vao bo” (Carrying knowledge to the mountains - Bringing knowledge to the sea - Welcoming children to shore), in 2014 the Fund began expanding its support to include children of fishermen in island and coastal areas and children of forces carrying out law enforcement duties at sea and on islands. The project brought these students into schools for nurturing and educational care, or provided them with scholarships for 7 years of study in their local areas. The Fund also invested in building 2 schools in the Truong Sa Archipelago: 1 school on Truong Sa Lon Island and 1 on Sinh Ton Island — 2 schools with an important strategic position and special political significance. From there, the “Vi Hoang Sa - Truong Sa” Club was also established — a testament to the connection of love between the shore and the sea.

During the implementation of the project, the project team also encountered many difficulties in organising resources to care for the students. However, the Fund has always sought ways to overcome these challenges to ensure it can implement the above projects by strengthening communication and advocacy, and mobilising resources so society can share in and sympathise with the humanitarian meaning of the projects. On the other hand, the Fund also needs to closely monitor the results of project implementation. It is the learning outcomes of the project beneficiaries and the students’ growth that will motivate organisations and benefactors to continue providing support.

Budget

Costs are allocated to each activity within the project framework. Specifically:

Uom mam tuong lai Project: VND 394,206,947,738 (Three hundred and ninety-four billion, two hundred and six million, nine hundred and forty-seven thousand, seven hundred and thirty-eight dong)
Mo duong den tuong lai Project: VND 18,543,356,000 (Eighteen billion, five hundred and forty-three million, three hundred and fifty-six thousand dong)
Chap canh uoc mo Project: VND 22,412,000,000 (Twenty-two billion, four hundred and twelve million dong)
Thap sang tuong lai Project: VND 95,894,640,759 (Ninety-five billion, eight hundred and ninety-four million, six hundred and forty thousand, seven hundred and fifty-nine dong)
Ho tro sinh vien Project: VND 35,236,000,000 (Thirty-five billion, two hundred and thirty-six million dong)
In addition, the Vong tay nhan ai Scholarship Program, implemented in 2021 for 17 provinces and cities heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, had a total implementation budget of VND 4,950,000,000 (Four billion, nine hundred and fifty million dong).

The activities of the Vu A Dinh scholarship fund have provided practical support for ethnic minority students and students from island and coastal areas, helping reduce the economic burden on their families so they can support the students’ education, helping the students complete their studies, develop themselves, change their lives and be able to support their families in the future; on the other hand, the Fund has contributed to training human resources for remote and isolated areas, gradually narrowing the development gap between regions.

From the shared home of the Vu A Dinh scholarship fund, engineers, doctors, diplomats, teachers and others have emerged and returned to villages and reached out to the open seas, contributing to building and adding colour to the vibrant garden of the 54 brotherly ethnic groups across the country.

The Fund’s contributions have touched the hearts of many generous people. More than 5,000 donors in Vietnam and overseas, together with 22 private schools in Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho and Binh Duong, have tirelessly joined the Fund in “going up to the forests and down to the seas” to share care and spread the spirit of great national solidarity and love for the seas and islands through practical activities and contributions with a total value of nearly VND 571.243 billion.

The program has created broad social impacts through many large-scale community projects. In total, 130,000 regular scholarships have been awarded with a total value of VND 130 billion. The Uom mam tuong lai Project has supported 665 students at 22 schools and across 5 provinces and cities, with a projected total budget of up to VND 394 billion by 2030. In addition, the Chap canh uoc mo Project has accompanied 513 students from 32 ethnic groups, with the participation of 119 benefactors across 48 provinces and cities and 14 islands, reaching a total budget of over VND 21 billion.

Alongside this, the Mo duong den tuong lai Project has supported 100 female students, with implementation funding exceeding VND 18 billion, delivered across 2 phases: phase 1 from 2009 to 2016 and phase 2 from 2017 to 2024. In higher education, the program has supported 438 university students across 49 provinces and cities, with total implementation funding of more than VND 34 billion. In addition, the Thap sang tuong lai Project reached a total budget of more than VND 95 billion, contributing to the construction of 38 bridges and 7 rural roads, while also developing 20 schools and school sites across 15 provinces and islands.

Beyond its education and infrastructure impacts, the program has also made positive contributions to social welfare, with 166 gratitude houses and comradeship houses built, along with 31,454 gift packages sent to poor communities and people affected by natural disasters. These results clearly reflect the scale of long-term investment and the sustainable social value that the program brings.

Over the past 25 years, with clear and well-directed purposes and criteria, the Vu A Dinh scholarship fund has consistently built credibility, consensus and trust among its partners, and has expanded its operating models. From annual scholarships that initially benefited only a few hundred pupils and students, the number has increased to 8,000 scholarships. In-depth investment project models have also been formed, benefiting nearly 1,700 ethnic minority students and students from island regions, while 20 schools and school sites, hundreds of policy houses and comradeship houses, and dozens of bridges have been built.

The scholarship fund is continually strengthened and its reach extended by responsible and compassionate partners — the Fund’s potential will continue to expand.

Towards a developed country in line with global trends, training human resources — a young generation with high qualifications and expertise, firm political conviction, the right attitude to life and effective working practices — is a central task of the Fund. Through practical activities, the goodwill and helping hands of the whole society working together, and the contributions of generations of students who benefit from scholarships today, the Fund will continue to persistently contribute to building the country in the new era.

Vu A Dinh scholarship fund

Vu A Dinh scholarship fund