The VinaCapital Foundation and Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund Launch the Brighter Path Girls’ Club in Tra Vinh and Thai Nguyen provinces

In May 2022, the VinaCapital Foundation (VCF) in partnership with the Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund, led by Madam Truong My Hoa, Former Vice President of Vietnam, launches the Brighter Path Girls’ Club digital learning platform (e-BPGC) and after-school Girls’ Clubs for rural ethnic minority female students in high schools in Thai Nguyen and Tra Vinh provinces. The project e-BPGC aims to equip disadvantaged ethnic girls with critical financial understanding, social and life skills. The project is sponsored by HSBC Vietnam.

From September 2020 to January 2021, VCF in cooperation with Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund successfully completed the Brighter Path Girls’ Club (BPGC) pilot project which provides education in financial literacy, sexual and reproductive health, leadership skills, and legal rights for 60 ethnic minority high school girls in 2 Thai Nguyen high schools. Following its success, VCF continues to receive support and sponsorship from HSBC Vietnam to implement the e-BPGC project to expand and replicate the model at the provincial and national levels. After 6 months of establishing, developing, and testing, VCF and Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund officially launch the Brighter Path Girls’ Club digital learning platform. The project is assisted by the Center for Creative Initiatives in Health and Population (CCIHP) and the Center for Consultancy on Family Health and Community Development (CFC Vietnam).

The donation from HSBC Vietnam will help to implement the e-BPGC project for an initial 11 high schools in Thai Nguyen and Tra Vinh provinces, improving financial capabilities for 2,530 ethnic minority female students in Vietnam. The platform will be promoted through educational seminars and school-wide competitions at 11 participating schools, reaching approximately 13,530 students including male students.

The e-BPGC will provide education in financial literacy, sexual and reproductive health, legal rights, and leadership skills for ethnic female high school students through a hybrid model consisting of after-school club sessions and a web-based application that is compatible with any smartphone device and computer. Additionally, a media classroom with a standard set of equipment including a laptop, a projector screen, and a video-conferencing system will be provided for participating schools to create more learning opportunities for rural and remote disadvantaged ethnic students.

As the centerpiece of the project, the financial capability curriculum is uniquely built for ethnic minority female high school students with local distinctive cultures, covering four components: (1) budgeting and financial management, (2) understanding of financial services and products, (3) being a smart consumer, and (4) setting goals. Project-based contests will also strengthen the learning process.

“It is well documented internationally that females have led the way in communities that have escaped poverty. Improving financial knowledge and capabilities provides the tools to allow girls to reduce generational poverty, improve health, build the middle class, and ensure the rights of women,” states Rad Kivette, CEO of VinaCapital Foundation. “Thanks to our dedicated donors like HSBC Vietnam and other partners, VCF can provide quality education opportunities for vulnerable, disadvantaged, and often marginalized ethnic high school girls. This project will prepare and enable these young scholars to become strong independent women who contribute to Vietnam’s economic growth.”

The implementation of the e-BPGC project confirms VCF’s strong dual commitment to both the development of underserved communities as well as to the promotion of women’s and girls’ inclusion in that development process in Vietnam.