- 145 ethnic minority students and young achievers honored for excellence in academics, science, arts, and sports at the 2025 Ceremony to Honor Outstanding Ethnic Minority Students and Youth in Hanoi.
- Awardees represented 52 ethnic groups from 30 provinces, reflecting expanding access and success of inclusive education in remote and mountainous areas of Vietnam.
- Education infrastructure and quality have improved significantly, with high enrollment and graduation rates among ethnic minorities, and past awardees contributing back to community development in health, education, and the economy.
A total of 145 ethnic minority students, university graduates, and young achievers received awards this year for their outstanding performance in academic, scientific, artistic, and physical achievements, marking the life-changing effect of inclusive education in the remote and mountainous areas of Vietnam.
The 2025 Ceremony to Honor Outstanding Ethnic Minority Students and Youth, organized by the Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs in cooperation with the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Ministry of Education and Training, recently took place in Hanoi on December 26-27, with VietNamNet as the main media partner.
Entering its 12th year sine its inception in 2013, the program has achieved the highest ever ethnic diversity, with awardees coming from 52 ethnic groups in 30 provinces and municipalities around the country. Indeed, the diversity embodied by the awardees in 2025 represents the ever-expanding success of efforts in providing education to ethnic minorities.
Awardees come from renowned international and local honors awarded in a broad range of fields, including scholastic competitions, science exhibits, the arts, and sports, many of whom have gained entrance into top universities because of high scores. Notably, in 2025, valedictorians are celebrated for the very first time in the program, which has expanded the list of awardees to recognize a broader range of excellence.
The class of 2025 shows a significant advancement in the extent and quality of achievement among ethnic minorities. There appears to be a growing passion and drive to learn and develop themselves and the communities around them. These people represent the transformative role that education can have on a new generation to develop their potential and be responsible to and within the community.
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As reported by the Ministry of Education and Training, there are presently 1,213 semi-boarding and 316 full-boarding educational establishments providing education to the country's ethnic minorities in 20 and 31 provinces respectively, and home to about 245,800 and 115,333 pupils respectively. The nation has four university-preparatory schools and one high school with a university-preparatory program respectively taking in 3,000 pupils every year. In addition to the above developments and improvements made in educational infrastructure within the region, there has also been improvement made in educational quality.
The enrollment and graduation rates of ethnic minorities are almost at par with national figures at 98% and 97.25% at the preschool and primary levels respectively. The level at lower and upper Secondary is at 98.24% and 98.16% respectively. During the past 12 years, more than 2,000 ethnic minority students and youth have been honored in this program, many of whom have gone back to their homeland to contribute to the development in health, education, and economic development in their community.
The award ceremony, therefore, is not only to honor the awardees but to show commitment to sustainable education and development by the nation as a whole. The activities in relation to the commemoration in the year 2025 were significant in that they included a forum for students and youth thematic Digital Stories from the Villages, pays homage at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, as well as the Golden Book signing ceremony at the Temple of Literature, which was broadcast live on VTV5 at the Ho Guom Theatre.
