The Scholarship Program to Enhance Literacy and Learning (SPELL) highly innovative education program that is designed to prevent poor Vietnamese students from dropping out of school.

SPELL provides poor students with funding for school fees, books, uniforms, and other expenses. It also mandates and pays for after-school tutoring. The program starts with children in the third or fourth grade.  Each student in the program is guaranteed a scholarship until graduation from high school, provided he or she remains in school.

Today, EMW-administered SPELL programs are operating in seven provinces and cities in central Vietnam, reaching thousands of students and families who are among the country’s poorest and most vulnerable.

EMW’s main local partner is the Study Promotion Association (SPA), which works to improve public education and reduce illiteracy.  They work with educators and training departments to support students in all aspects of their studies to keep them from dropping out of school or repeating grade levels.  SPAs also aim to make Vietnam and its citizens committed to a lifetime of learning.

SPAs are located in four levels—central government, provinces, cities, and communes.  There are also SPA affiliates throughout the hamlets, families, schools, and other religious or public institutions.   SPAs are dependent on funding from the government, but also receive private funding (international and domestic) to maintain their day-to-day operations.

Program Goals

Provide the poorest students from the poorest communes and districts with more opportunities and incentives to stay in school and enhance their quality of education.

Alleviate high rates of illiteracy, dropout, and child labor, while also lowering the risk of sexual violation for young girls.

Increase the level of local involvement in the program in the following areas:

• Schools. Increase the attention paid to low-income students by schools and assist students with below-average academic performances through tutoring.
• Education authorities. The provincial and district departments of education will co-administer SPA and monitor each school’s implementation of the SPELL program.
• Local government and agencies. Increase their awareness of the area’s poorest and neediest families in preparation for selecting the SPELL scholarship recipients.
• Parents. Improve their awareness and knowledge of the importance of education and increase their focus on their children’s learning and health, which includes providing children with enough time for their homework.

Develop the capacity for partner SPAs at all grade levels to assist in implementing SPELL activities

Program Target Areas

SPELL targets the students from the poorest communes and districts in central Vietnam.  It is currently operating in the following provinces and cities:

• Quang Binh
• Hue Province
• Quang Nam
• Quang Ngai
• Binh Dinh
• Phu Yen
• Da Nang

Two provinces in the Mekong Delta, An Giang and Dong Thap, also are operating the SPELL program through EMW's ADAPT initiative.

Program Beneficiaries

By the 2007 school year, almost 5,000 students will be enrolled in the SPELL program, making it by far the largest scholarship program of its kind in Vietnam.

Students who move on to grade six for the 2007/2008 school year and live between 2.5km and 5km from their school will receive a bicycle to get to school.

Prospective beneficiaries must meet two criteria for SPELL consideration:

• Financial—the student must come from a household whose average income is less than $12.66 (200,000 VND) per month.
• Academic—the student must be enrolled in grades three, four, or five during the current school year.