Vietnam

By investing in Room to Read Vietnam, you can provide direct educational support to children who face the greatest barriers in gaining a quality education. Every contribution goes toward the most pressing priorities, including: 

Literacy

Scaling Room to Read’s library model to support children nationally 

In Vietnam, Room to Read’s strategic, multi-level approach is poised to reach more students than ever. By working closely with provincial ministries and the national Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), we are bridging local and national efforts to create a comprehensive pathway to expand access to quality school libraries for students nationwide. 

At the local level, we establish “demonstration” libraries that serve as dynamic training centers, equipping provincial education officers with the skills and knowledge to replicate our child-friendly library model. These model libraries are not just spaces for books, but powerful learning ecosystems that showcase how thoughtfully designed library environments can dramatically enhance student learning. 

Simultaneously, at the national level, Room to Read has become a trusted partner of MoET, playing a pivotal role in developing national library standards and training educators at scale. Our work directly informs educational policies, creating systemic change that goes beyond individual school interventions and addresses broader educational inequalities. 

This strategic approach means we are not just creating libraries — we are building a sustainable, scalable model of educational transformation. Your support will invest invaluable resources to help Room to Read reach every province, supporting educators nationwide in cultivating high-quality libraries and reshaping how children in Vietnam experience reading, learning and opportunity.  

Building a robust collection of digital resources for educators 

In recent years, Vietnam has demonstrated an acute interest and commitment to leveraging digital resources as a means to drive development and prosperity across the country. Notably, Vietnam’s National Digital Transformation Program charts a path to strengthen the country's digital infrastructure to support every sector of society, especially education.

In alignment with the national agenda, Room to Read aims to work with the government to develop and integrate digital learning resources on Vietnam’s national digital learning platform for educators, while also simultaneously working to promote widespread use of Room to Read’s online platform, Literacy Cloud. These materials offer guidance and training to teachers and librarians on a range of topics, including how to facilitate reading activities, provide mentorship and integrate life skills lessons to improve children’s learning outcomes. In addition to Room to Read’s in-person trainings for educators, these digital resources could reach more educators, much faster, supporting student learning at scale. 

Ensuring children are prepared to begin school and thrive 

Globally, in countries with particularly high rates of ethnic, racial, religious and linguistic diversity, there exist alarming disparities in foundational literacy skills for children. Vietnam is home to over 50 ethnic groups, comprising approximately 15 percent of the country’s population of 98.5 million. That means that millions of children are often beginning their formal education journeys without a background in the classroom language of instruction, posing a significant hurdle in their efforts to comprehend class sessions and build critical learning skills. 

That is why Room to Read aims to launch a pilot in Vietnam to provide early childhood education support to young children, particularly those from ethnic minority groups, through which they can practice and build preliminary Vietnamese language skills. In 2025, we will partner with the Ministry of Education and Training to launch a multi-week summer course that is specifically designed for pre-primary students to help them build Vietnamese speaking and listening skills through activities designed to help students familiarize themselves with common words and phrases (e.g. introductions, games, describing hobbies, naming school staff and classmates, etc.) they are likely to encounter in when they begin Grade 1. This pilot poses a critical opportunity for Room to Read’s literacy programming to help close early learning gaps before they begin.  

Gender Equality

Preparing more adolescents with essential life skills 

Recognized for our expertise in teaching life skills, we have helped shape national guidelines, resources and trainings to increase access to life skills and mentorship services in schools, and promote more gender-transformative teaching practices.

In Vietnam specifically, this work has included adapting our life skills curriculum to be taught by teachers during the school day to all students instead of through extra-curricular clubs, developing teachers’ guides and resources for providing effective life skills and mentorship support to students, and training government education officers on implicit biases in education and how to guide teachers in implementing more gender-equitable teaching strategies.Room to Read is serving as the primary technical partner alongside MoET to support the implementation of mentoring and essential life skills as part of the standard secondary education curriculum.

Under this partnership, Room to Read and our social mobilizers will help build the skills of secondary school teachers to help provide counseling and support for students’ socio-psychological well-being, and improve gender inclusion in education. This will include organizing workshops and developing a network of national trainers, who in turn will train and support teachers at the school level in delivering life skills lessons and mentorship at scale — effectively expanding the impact of Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program to all students throughout Vietnam. 

In 2025, Room to Read will collaborate with MoET to co-design life skills training materials for educators and support capacity building on mentoring for teachers, paving the way for every educator to be prepared to serve as a supportive mentor and helpful life skills resource for adolescent students across the country.  

Scaling climate justice clubs to build more resilient communities nationwide 

Vietnam is among the world’s most vulnerable countries, continually affected by climate crises, which have perpetuated cycles of poor education and gender inequalities for generations. As confronting climate crises remains a growing and urgent need in Vietnam and other high-risk regions, Room to Read is at an exciting inflection point to begin scaling its climate justice work in Vietnam.

For the past two years, Room to Read has successfully piloted after-school climate justice clubs to Grade 7 and 8 students at two participating schools in Vinh Long province, delivering lessons to participating students on the science of climate change, its impact on gender inequalities, and how to actively lead or participate in climate action. Given early successes and engagement from participating schools, more schools in more communities across Vietnam are keen to have their own climate clubs.

To scale this work to more schools in 2025, Room to Read hopes to share the climate curriculum and train educators in five more schools to deliver climate justice clubs to students. With additional funding, Room to Read is prepared to meet this growing demand and share the program more broadly in Vietnam.