Vietnam has more than 1.5 million illiterates between the ages of 15 and 60, an official from the education and training ministry has said.

A class for illiterates in northern mountain Dien Bien Province's Muong Nhe District.

Head of the MoET's Continuous Education Department, Nguyen Cong Hinh, said all provinces and cities nationwide had achieved the national target of eliminating illiteracy in 2000, and had continued their universal education programme since then.

However, some localities neglected their duty to eliminate illiteracy and thus missed the target deadline in 2015.

The number of people attending literacy and post-literacy classes had decreased from 60,000 in the previous years to a little more than 28,000 in the 2014-2015 period.

Hinh said in some localities, the authorities were not really interested in eliminating illiteracy. The local people's awareness of the issue was also very limited.

The teachers involved in the illiteracy elimination campaign were also unprofessional as they did not have a chance to attend training courses.

Some localities did not research and compile teaching materials suitable and specific to their learners.