Updated: 02/10/06 Current Situation of Vietnamese Education 1.1.

Achievements Stepping into the 21st century the Vietnamese education has undergone 15 years of renovation and has achieved important results such as increased enrollment, diversification of delivery modes and improved school infrastructure. The level of mass education has been increased. The quality of education began changing positively. a) A relatively complete, unified and diversified education system has been built with all levels from pre-school education to doctorate training. The general education school network is expanding throughout the country. There are boarding or semi-boarding schools in provinces and many districts for people of ethnic minorities. Vocational schools, classes and centres are developing in different forms with short-term vocational training classes showing strong development. Universities and junior colleges have been established in almost every population centre of the country and in regions and localities. The school infrastructure has been upgraded and improved. The number of newly built schools that meet the national standards is increasing. The education system has begun to diversify in forms, modes of delivery and resources, and, step by step, is integrating in the common trends of world education. From a system dominated by public and formal schools, currently in the education system there are non-public schools, different forms of informal education, open learning, distance education and joint ventures with foreign institutions. A tuition fee system is applied to almost all levels of post-compulsory education. The proportion of students of non-public education institutions is increasing in total enrollment, amounting to 66% of crches children, 50% of kindergarten children, 34% of upper secondary school students and 11% of higher education students in 2000 - 2001 school year. b) The enrollment is rapidly increasing, initially satisfying the learning needs of society. In school year 2000 - 2001 there were about 18 million school pupils and 820 thousand vocational students (among them 130 thousand long-term vocational students). In 2000, the number of higher education students per 10 thousand of population was 118, surpassing the target set by the Resolution of the Second Plenarium of the Party Central Committee of the VIII Term. The vocational training enrollment has increased by 1.8 times from 1997 to 2000. The labour force, trained by different forms and at different levels, is 20% of the total labour force of the country, meeting the objective set by the above-mentioned Resolution. c) The social equity in basic education is ensured with education in the regions with ethnic minorities changing positively; about 250 boarding and more than 100 semi-boarding schools for ethnic minority students have been established. About 94% of the population over 15 years are literate; the average number of schooling years is 7.3. Basically our country has gained gender equity in basic education. d) The social participation in education has brought initial results. Different social forces are gradually participating more actively in the mobilization of children for schools, construction of

school infrastructure, investment in school buildings and making financial contributions to education in different forms. The percentage of financial contribution of society in the total education expenditure has gradually increased, reaching about 25% in 2000. e) The quality of education is changing in some aspects. The level of knowledge, the capability to get new knowledge for certain numbers of students is increasing; the education for gifted students has achieved a high level in the region and in the world, the number of student-winners of international and national olympiads in some subjects is increasing. The majority of graduates from higher education institutions have the ambition to be persons of virtue, to make a living reliant, dynamically spirited. The training quality in some science and technology fields has been improved by one step. Higher education is growing step by step, training numerous contingents of scientists and technicians from bachelor to doctor levels, who are working and have brought important contributions in different socio-economic sectors. Thanks to the achievements of education and other social sectors, the UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) of Vietnam has raised considerably in the last 10 years, from 0.456 and ranked at position 121 out of 174, it has increased to 0.681, positioned 101 out of 174. Compared to the economic development index (GDP/Capita), the HDI has gone up by 19 positions. The reasons for these achievements are: the majority of our people have a fondness for learning, valuing the learning of the young generation; the majority of teachers are devoted to their jobs; the Communist Party and the State pay great attention and have positive policies for the development of education. Realizing Resolutions of the Second Plenarium (VIII Term) of Partys Central Committee and implementing Education Law, the education sector has made a number of positive changes. At the macro level, the Government has provided guidance for: the universalization of lower secondary education throughout the country and the renovation of general education curricula; the development and implementation of higher education institutions master plan for 2001-2010; developing a focus on building and consolidating the two National Universities and some other key universities; paying increased attention to the development of education in the remote, isolated and ethnic minority areas; overcoming the negative phenomena in education by one step. The Government has also focused its efforts on the gradual improvement of the system of education policies at the macro level, and on guiding the implementation of measures to overcome the weaknesses, shortages and imbalances in the structure to increase the quality of education. Funding for education from the state budget and from other sources is increasing. The state budget for education increased from 8% in 1990 to 15% in 2000. Many programs and large projects have mobilized various resources for the development of education, especially general education. The education sector has carried out innovations in education goals, including diversification of the modes of delivery and financial resources, mobilization of social forces for education development, creating opportunities for more people to learn and increasing international

exchanges and co-operation. The mass associations and social organizations have also had many activities supporting education development. The political stability, the achievements in economic development, the improvement of peoples life in the renovation period created conditions for a favorable environment for education to develop. 1.2. Weaknesses Despite many achievements mentioned above, the education of our country is still: weak in quality; unbalanced in structure; low effectiveness; the education is not linked strongly with practice; the training is not linked with employment; teaching staff is still weak, infrastructure is not sufficient, the renovation of curricula, teaching manuals, methods of delivery and management is made slowly; some negative phenomena and disorders are overcome slowly. a) The quality of education in general is low. It has neither gone up to the advanced level of the region and the world nor has it responded to the job needs of the society. The ability in creative thinking, the practical skills and the adaptability to the professional world of graduates are limited. Their work discipline, spirit of co-operation and healthy competition are not high and so the ability to make their living is limited. b) The effectiveness of education is not high. The proportion of students finishing a level of education compared with entrance is low, especially in the mountainous, isolated, remote areas. In 1999-2000 this rate was approximately 70% for primary and lower secondary education and 80% for upper secondary education. The percentage of trained labour force is low, thus many graduates can not find jobs. c) The education of our country is still imbalanced in terms of levels, career training and disparities between regions. The practical guidance and the mentality of society has a bias in favor of higher education, while less attention is paid to vocational training, even with high qualifications. The increase of enrollment is only at university level. The percentage of students enrolling into technological colleges, professional secondary and vocational schools is still small and is increasing slowly. The forecasting, master planning, career-orientation works for training are not good. Schools and training institutions do not provide students enough guidance in careers and the ability to make a living. Educational institutions, especially those of higher and vocational education, are concentrated in big cities and industrial areas. Education in isolated, remote and ethnic minority regions are still facing hardship. There is not enough attention paid to informal and out of school education, especially for working people. d) There is a shortage in teaching staff. Generally low in quality, they do not meet the requirements of increased enrollment or the need of enhancement of quality and effectiveness of

education. In particular, the academic staff of higher education rarely have opportunities for regular upgrading of their knowledge or accessing new scientific and technological achievements of the world. e) School infrastructure is still in straits. In mountainous, isolated and remote areas, there remain 3 shift classes and bamboo thatched classrooms. Facilities and equipment supporting teaching and learning are in a poor and backward situation. g) Curricula, teaching materials and modes of delivery are changing and modernized slowly. Curricula are very much academically and classically biased, mostly designed for examinations; do not pay due attention to creativity, practicality and career orientation; are not linked strongly with socio-economic development practice and the needs of learners; are not linked effectively with scientific and technological research and development. Academic education is not organically integrated with moral education, civic education, social responsibilities and the sense of national dignity. The examination system is backward. The entrance examination to higher education is heavy and costly. h) The education management is not effective. Negative trends and undisciplinary environment in education are not prevented in time. The commercialization of education phenomena such as buying degrees, selling marks, enrolling more students than the allocated quota, indiscretion in charging and spending have badly affected the reputation of schools and teachers. Cheating on examinations affect negatively on students and their work attitude in the future. Drug abuse and social evils have entered schools. In general, the quality and effectiveness of mass knowledge, manpower training and nurturing talents is low and do not respond the needs of our country in this new phase of development. The causes of these weaknesses and shortcomings from a subjective perspective are seen as follows: the level of education management has not caught up with the practice and the needs of development as the economy is experiencing the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy with socialistic orientation; it does not coordinate well or effectively use the state and social resources for education; the change in the thinking as well as mode of management is slow decision making in terms of strategic orientation and policy at macro level in order to solve appropriately the relations between enrollment, quality and effectiveness in education is slow and late. The legal documents on education are not issued in a timely manner. Education inspection is weak and does not gain due attention. Due attention is not paid to the theoretical problems of education development in the new period in a way to direct the practical activities. Little attention is paid to enhancing the capability of education managerial staff at different levels. The ethics of certain number of managers and teachers has degraded. The guiding view point education is the top national policy is not fully shared by some governmental officials and managerial staff at different levels and therefore does not serve as guidance for their practical activities. Education is still considered as the business only of education sector. This hampers co-operation and consistent coordination between other sectors, different administration levels and social forces with education sector for the cause of education

development, nor is it paid due attention in the co-operation between school, family and social education. From an objective perspective, during the past years, education in this country has been under a strong pressure because of the increase of the population and the level of mass education. At the same time, the labour supply exceeded the demand, job placements provided by economic development was limited and the investment capability for education is still poor. The fact that the country is moving to a market economy and implementing an open policy is now changing the social values and the quality of labourers. This has direct impact on the orientation of personality development of learners. The education sector of our country has not carried out effective measures to respond positively to these changes. The delays in the reform of state administration, in the renovation of economic management, finance management, labour utilization and salary policy, etc., are the factors that hamper the effective solution of education issues, the mobilization of all social power for education development, the rapid growth in response to the high demands of countrys industrialization and modernization. Our country is still poor, its GDP per capita is low, natural resources, infrastructure, equipment and investment for education are lacking while the social demands for education are increasing. In this context, despite the fact that there are still weaknesses and shortcomings in our education as mentioned above, the achievements gained during the past years are worthy of admiration.