Hanoi(VNA) – The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and US non-profit organisation STEAM for Vietnam Foundationon June 15 announced a new long-term partnership to provide children in Vietnamwith equitable learning opportunities on STEAM (Science, Technology,Engineering, Arts and Math) related areas, both online and offline, which meetglobally recognised standards.

This shared value partnership aims to close the digital gapand promote digital literacy opportunities for millions of children andadolescents in Vietnam, aligning with the government’s strategy for the next fiveyears.

Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam, said that STEAM for Vietnam has mobilisedsome of the best minds to create a specific set of relevant, entertaining, opensource, learning materials on areas where girls in particular have traditionallybeen left behind. 

These relate to science, technology, engineering, arts andmath and the learning approach used drives creativity, critical thinking andproblem-solving skills and much more. Improving science, technology, artsand math outcomes for girls and boys is a core focus of UNICEF’s ReimagineEducation approach in Vietnam, and thus the partnership will seek to extend thereach of these stimulating resources to every child everywhere, especiallygirls, she said.

In joining hands to drive digital literacy and skills forchildren at every age, STEAM for Vietnam andUNICEF will partner on the broader ReimagineEducation goals that include connectivity and a digital device for everychild to learn and thrive, Flowers said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Tran Viet Hung, CEO of STEAM for Vietnam Foundation, said: “Webelieve that a strong foundation of STEAM education will play a critical rolein the success of the next generation of Vietnam in the globalmarketplace. STEAM for Vietnam wouldlike to bring state-of-the-art STEAM education to children in Vietnam aged 6 to18 through advanced technologies, innovative education models, and teacherexpertise. We are honored and excited to begin our journey with UNICEF with theaim of providing every child with equal opportunities in accessing world-classSTEAM education for free”.

This joint partnership programme will contribute tonationally recognized online learning solutions and digital transformation ofthe education system in Vietnam.

STEAM for VietnamFoundation was founded in May 2020, with a mission to bringworld-class STEAM education to millions of young Vietnamese for free. In onlytwelve months, the foundation has been successfully developing the technologyecosystem, creating innovative educational content, and implementing noveleducation models to provide 20 thousand students across Vietnam with courses incomputational thinking, computer science, and robotics and receiving greatfeedback from schools, families, and students. 

The partnership aims to provide every child in Vietnam withan equal opportunity to access world-class STEAM education for free including avariety of programmes from fundamental courses to advanced courses. This summer,students can register for two courses - Introduction to Computational Thinkingand Programming with Scratch and Introduction to Computer Science with Pythonfor children from 8 to 16 years old. The classes will be on Sunday morningsfrom June 27 to August 15, 2021, and taught by software engineers who work intech giants. Students interested in the courses can register at www.steamforvietnam.org./.