HÀ NỘI — A Discovery Room with interesting and inspiring lessons, books and games for children aged 3-15 opened yesterday at the Vietnamese Women’s Museum in Hà Nội.

The new initiative seeks to equip children with many soft skills including using the Internet safely, preventing abduction, speaking out when being abused and asking for help when bullied at school.

It will also provide children with knowledge on sex and gender equality.

Museum officials said they worked with experts over a year to get information on the needs of teachers and students during the build up to the Discovery Room.

“This provides students an opportunity to be actively involved in the learning process,” said Michael Croft, UNESCO Representative in Việt Nam. Explaining the Discovery Room’s motto, he quoted Benjamin Franklin: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.”

“I believe this quote captures the spirit of the Discovery Room,” he said. “The goal was to create an interactive learning environment for students. The room provides an extension of a classroom to inspire curiosity, excitement and exploration through hands-on activities.

“What makes this discovery room unique is the desire to engage students in social matters that are important, such as gender equality and gender related issues.”

The journey of discovery has been a collaborative process. The staff of the museum, UNESCO representatives and volunteers have worked countless hours together to create an educational and inspiring room, he said.

“We each brought different strengths to the meeting table. From the beginning, I admired how the museum staff had an understanding on subjects of interest and importance for local school children like sex education, and insisted on including such topics in the Discovery Room,” he said.

“Based on my professional and personal experiences, I shared different ways of presenting information that actively engages the students and leaves them wanting more.”

The museum has received documents, photos, books and videos from various organisations in Việt Nam and the world. All the content at the Discovery Room are presented in Vietnamese and English.

The room is open daily at the Vietnamese Women’s Museum, 36 Lý Thường Kiệt Street, Hà Nội. — VNS