When will the stature of Vietnamese people be improved: Many barriers cause Project 641 to 'freeze'

Lack of funding, changes in personnel, limited social awareness... are major barriers that prevent the overall project on physical development and stature of Vietnamese people in the period 2011 - 2030 (called Project 641) from being put into practice, causing concerns about the risk of physical decline of the younger generation.

THE FIRST QUESTION IS… WHERE IS THE MONEY?

Although it was expected to be a strategic breakthrough to improve the physical strength and stature of Vietnamese people in a systematic and scientific way, the actual implementation of Project 641 shows a rather bleak picture. In fact, this project is showing signs of a prolonged "freeze".

The model of non-uniform swimming pools in Quang Ngai needs to be widely deployed, which will help children improve their physical strength and stature.

PHOTO: DUC NHAT

The total estimated budget for implementing Project 641 is about 5,000 billion VND. However, all four major programs of the project have not been fully implemented due to lack of funding. In 2015, five years after the project was approved, Mr. Hoang Tuan Anh (then Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism) lamented: "We feel extremely worried because of the funding problem. The sports industry alone cannot handle the massive workload of the project. Without funding, the project cannot be put into operation soon. But funding is required for the project to be able to operate in both breadth and depth."

The summary report of phase 1 (2011 - 2020) of Project 641 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated: "Many contents and tasks of the component programs have been approved but have not been implemented because separate funding for implementation has not been arranged, while the regular funding of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and related ministries and branches is difficult to meet, thus facing difficulties in the process of implementing activities. In addition to limited funding to carry out a number of tasks related to building legal bases, content, and plans of component programs; some basic documents serving the implementation of the project and funding to maintain the operation of the Coordination Board office, other funding sources have not been deployed."

Project 641 does not have specific and reasonable regulations on how to mobilize and use implementation funds. This has greatly affected the mobilization of funds and the conditions to ensure the implementation of the project. The lack of funding from the state budget has caused difficulties in implementing the programs while the mechanism for mobilizing social resources has not been established, causing many units and organizations, even though they want to, to be unable to participate in the project.

There is no coordination and lack of uniformity.

In the latest sharing, the sports industry leader said that in the past 15 years, the personnel of the Coordination Board and the Program Management Board of Project 641 have changed many times, leading to a bottleneck in coordination and implementation. The implementation of the project between the Central and local levels has not been synchronized, so the results have not been as expected. Inter-sectoral coordination has also not been smooth, leading to overlapping and ineffective activities.

In addition, the awareness of society and families about the need to develop the physical strength and stature of the young generation is not at the right level. The implementation of Project 641 is behind schedule compared to the established plan due to the lack of awareness sharing in society about the risk of lagging behind in physical strength and stature of Vietnamese people. The economic conditions of many families, especially in remote areas, are still difficult, so they have not thought about taking care of developing physical strength and stature.

According to the assessment of the Project 641 Coordination Board, physical education and sports activities in schools still have many shortcomings. Schools lack gyms, sports equipment and physical education teachers. Some schools still take the implementation of physical education programs lightly, and the implementation of physical education programs is still formal and ineffective. School sports activities have poor content guidance, monotonous forms of activities, and have not attracted a large number of students to participate in physical education and sports. Physical education - the "missing piece" in schools, is also one of the basic reasons why the project has not been effective.

The sad reality is that physical education in schools is still inadequate. Many schools lack gyms and sports equipment, and the teaching staff is small and untrained. Some places even take physical education lightly, teaching it perfunctorily and perfunctorily.

The school sports program is poor in content and monotonous in form, making students uninterested in participating. Physical training - which is the foundation for height development - cannot achieve the expected results.

Reviewing the 10-year implementation of Project 641, the leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism emphasized the need to look directly at the shortcomings of the project's implementation behind schedule compared to the established plan. It is necessary to review the overall effectiveness of the project, to some extent, and evaluate it carefully to come up with specific solutions in the coming time. (continued)

P NEED TO REBUILD THE PROJECT MONITORING MECHANISM

To prevent Project 641 from falling into a state of complete "paralysis", the Project Coordination Board needs to rebuild a monitoring mechanism to independently evaluate, ensure the objectivity and scientific nature of the project, and bring it closer to the practical situation of Vietnam's current economic and social circumstances. Restructure solution groups in a more practical and feasible direction, strengthen inter-sectoral coordination, mobilize the participation of the whole society, especially families and schools. Invest in applied scientific research, build effective pilot models and replicate them. Focus on key target groups such as infants, primary and secondary school students, pregnant women, and adolescents.

Chi Dat

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bao-gio-tam-voc-nguoi-viet-nam-duoc-cai-thien-nhieu-rao-can-khien-de-an-641-dong-bang-185250916204903912.htm