Save the Children has worked closely with local authorities and partners in Dong Thap and the former Tien Giang Province, now part of Dong Thap Province, to improve learning environments and expand development opportunities for children and young people.
Through programmes covering preschool, primary and lower-secondary education, as well as vocational training, the partnership has focused on key priorities including road safety, school health and nutrition, education, safe schools, psychological and mental health support, and equipping young people with the skills needed to enter the labour market.
Between 2019 and 2026, Save the Children implemented projects in Dong Thap with a total budget of approximately VND 22 billion. These initiatives were delivered in close collaboration with provincial departments, schools and communities, helping ensure that interventions responded to local needs while strengthening the capacity of local institutions and professionals.
Improving road safety for children
In the area of child protection, Save the Children and local partners implemented the “Road Safety for Children in School Zones” project in My Tho City from 2018, with the aim of reducing the risk of children being injured or killed in road traffic incidents on their journeys to and from school.
Photo: Road safety communications event at school.
The first phase, implemented from 2018 to 2020 in the areas surrounding 14 primary schools, focused on assessing existing risks, strengthening traffic-law enforcement, improving infrastructure, and promoting safer road-use knowledge, attitudes and practices among students and parents.
Building on these efforts, the second phase, from 2020 to 2022, developed safer school-zone models through low-cost infrastructure improvements at four high-risk school locations. These included upgrading road signs and markings, improving student pick-up and drop-off areas, creating safer parking spaces, and introducing speed-reduction measures in selected locations.
During the second phase, more than 5,000 teachers and school managers from 179 primary schools strengthened their capacity, while 135,066 students attended at least two road-safety learning sessions. Through a child-led Photovoice activity, students took 1,049 photographs documenting traffic risks from their own perspectives.
Photo: Photo voice activity on road safety.
Pre- and post-project surveys showed that the proportion of students with a good understanding of road safety increased from 34.88% to 60.25%, while correct helmet-wearing practices increased by 31.76%.
Strengthening school health and nutrition
In health and nutrition, the “School Health and Nutrition” project, implemented by Save the Children in partnership with the Mars Wrigley Foundation over 12 years from 2011 to 2024, contributed to improving health, hygiene, nutrition and safe learning environments for students across four provinces and cities, including the former Tien Giang Province, now part of Dong Thap.
In Dong Thap, the project provided training, education and communication activities for teachers, parents and students; improved water, sanitation and hygiene facilities; and supplied water filtration systems to several schools affected by saltwater intrusion.
Photo: Project closing workshop in Tien Giang (now Dong Thap province).
The project’s endline assessment found that 84.5% of students used school toilets, while 98.6% of parents participating in the project’s messaging programme shared information and practised school-health activities with their children at home. All participating schools had at least one teacher trained in school-health education, and all schools committed to continuing health-related teaching and communication activities.
These results demonstrate how the project supported improvements in school facilities while also helping to make school-health practices a regular part of everyday life at school and at home.
Improving learning outcomes through educational innovation
One of Save the Children’s key contributions to education in Dong Thap has been supporting children to improve their learning through the “Happy Read” application.
Developed by Save the Children, this educational technology initiative helps primary-school students strengthen their Vietnamese reading comprehension through an interactive digital library featuring curriculum-aligned content and engaging learning activities.
Under the “Improving the Quality of Education for Disadvantaged Children – Phase 3” project, implemented from 2022 to 2025, the application supported 1,934 students in Dong Thap. Its technical and operational capacity was also upgraded to serve more than 91,000 primary-school students nationwide.
Photo: Training on Literacy Boost approach in Dong Thap.
Save the Children has also strengthened connections between schools and families through a parent messaging programme. Implemented in 40 preschools and primary schools in Dong Thap between 2022 and 2025, the programme delivered 16,857 messages to 27,296 parents and supported 27,238 children.
The messages encouraged stronger relationships between parents and children and provided practical guidance to help parents and caregivers support children’s learning, language and mathematics development, physical health and mental wellbeing. Evaluation results showed that 95% of caregivers observed positive changes, felt more connected with their children, and gained greater confidence in supporting them effectively at home.
Save the Children has also strengthened the capacity of teachers and education managers in Dong Thap through the “Ready to Learn” approach for early literacy and mathematics and the “Literacy Boost” approach for primary-school students.
In 2024, training courses on these approaches were delivered to preschool and primary-school teachers and education managers. The Dong Thap Department of Education and Training subsequently took the initiative to expand the training across the province.
At the system level, four Early Literacy and Mathematics and Literacy Boost training modules were digitalised and integrated into online learning platforms managed by the Ministry of Education and Training and Save the Children, enabling teachers to access professional development resources more flexibly and sustainably.
Creating safe and child-friendly learning environments
Alongside its support for primary education, Save the Children has worked to create safer and more child-friendly learning environments for lower-secondary students in Dong Thap.
The “Building Safe and Child-Friendly Learning Environments for Lower-Secondary School Students” project was implemented in four lower-secondary schools in Tam Nong District between March and October 2025. It aimed to strengthen teachers’ capacity and improve school-based psychological counselling, career guidance and skills education for students.
Through the project, 127 school managers and teachers received training; four career-guidance rooms and four psychological counselling rooms were equipped and put into operation; and 1,853 students participated in career-guidance, experiential-learning and skills-development activities.
The project also strengthened coordination among schools, families and communities in creating safe and supportive educational environments.
Preparing young people for employment
In the area of child and youth poverty reduction, the “Skills to Succeed” project has been implemented in Dong Thap since 2024 across five vocational education institutions: Thap Muoi Intermediate School, Hong Ngu Intermediate School, Thanh Binh Intermediate School, Dong Thap Medical College and Dong Thap Community College.
The project aims to strengthen students’ readiness for employment. More than 5,000 students have participated in training on Skills to Succeed, green mindsets and growth mindsets through blended-learning and peer-learning approaches.
Photo: Students sharing at the project monitoring session.
Sixty core students were trained in communication, activity planning and facilitation skills using SHIFT,* while more than 5,000 students participated in job-connection events, dialogues with businesses and career-exploration activities. Nearly 200 school managers, lecturers and teachers also received training in methods for delivering and facilitating soft-skills education.
Building on local partnerships for sustainable change
Throughout the implementation of its projects in Dong Thap, Save the Children has placed local partnerships at the heart of sustainable change. Programmes have been delivered through close collaboration with provincial departments, government agencies, schools and communities, ensuring that activities respond to the actual needs of children and students while strengthening the capacity of local institutions and professionals.
The results achieved provide a strong foundation for Save the Children and Dong Thap Province to continue sustaining and expanding effective models in education, school health, child protection, road safety, school-based psychological counselling and essential skills development.
Through these joint efforts, Save the Children and its partners are contributing to safer and more child-friendly environments in which every child can develop to their full potential and be prepared to enter a new era of sustainable national development.
*SHIFT is a youth-support model developed by Save the Children. It equips young people with the skills to initiate, plan and implement communication campaigns that promote positive environmental or social change.
Data sources
Final reports of the “Road Safety for Children in My Tho City” project – Phase 1 (2018–2020) and Phase 2 (2020–2022)
Final report of the “School Health and Nutrition” project (2011–2024)
Final report of the “Improving the Quality of Education for Disadvantaged Children – Phase 3” project (2022–2025)
Final report of the “Building Safe and Child-Friendly Learning Environments for Lower-Secondary School Students” project (2025)
Mid-term report of the “Skills to Succeed” project (2024–2026)
