Education in Vietnam

Education in Vietnam is a state-run system of public and private education run by the Ministry of Education and Training. It is divided into five levels: preschool, primary school, secondary school, high school, and higher education. Formal education consists of twelve years of basic education, including five years of primary education, four years of secondary education, and three years of high school education. The majority of basic education students are enrolled on a daily basis. The main goals are general knowledge improvement, human resource training and talent development.^[5]

Historically, education in Vietnam followed the Chinese Confucian model, using Chữ Hán (for the Vietnamese language and for Chinese) as the main mode of literature and governance. This system promoted those who were talented enough to be mandarins or royal courtiers in Vietnam and China. This system was then overhauled and replaced by a French model system during French colonial times,^[6] which has since been replaced and overhauled again during the formation of independent Vietnam and the creation of Chữ Quốc Ngữ alphabet in the 1920s.^[6]

Vietnam is attempting to expand its education system. In 2012, estimated national budget for education was 6.3%.^[1] Vietnamese public reception of the country's education system has been mixed due to its inflexible nature and its tests. Citizens have been critical of the curriculum, which has led to social issues including depression, anxiety, and increasing suicide rates.^[7] There have been comments from the public that schools should opt for a more flexible studying program, with less emphasis on tests and more focus on developing life skills.^[8] In response to public opinion, the Ministry of Education and Training has implemented a number of education reforms.^[9][10][11] Tertiary enrollment rates were 3% in 1995 and increased to around 30% by 2019.^[12]

Regarding ownership, as prescribed in Article 44 of Vietnam's Education Law, there are four types of educational establishments:

• Public education establishments: established and monitored by the State. The State also nominates their administrators and decides staff quota. The State invests in infrastructure and allocates funding for their regular spending tasks.
• Semi-public educational establishments: set up by the State on the basis of mobilizing organizations and individuals in the society to jointly invest in infrastructure.
• People-founded educational establishments: Social or economic organizations apply for permission from the State to set up an institution with non-State budget capital.
• Private educational establishments: Individuals or groups of individuals apply for permission from the State to set up and invest in the institution by themselves.

The semi-public, people-founded and private educational establishments are referred collectively to as non-public educational establishments.^[13]

In Vietnam, a school year is divided into two semesters. For the 2025-2026 school year, the term dates are from 5th of September to 18th of January or earlier (schools can start the school year up to one week early for grade 2-8 and grade 10-11, up to two weeks early for grade 1, 9 and 12). The second term begin from mid-January (specific date based on each school) to 31st of May or earlier.^[14]

Children normally start primary education (tiểu học) at the age of six. Education at this level lasts for 5 years and is compulsory for all children. The country's literacy rate is over 90%.^[15]

According to the Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey 2006 of Vietnam's General Statistics Office, 96% of six to 11-year-old children enrolled in primary school. There was a disparity in the primary education completion rate among ethnicity groups. While primary completion rate for Kinh students was 86%, the rate for ethnic minority children was 61%.^[16]

In the school year 2009–2010, Vietnam had 15,172 primary schools and 611 combined primary and lower secondary schools. The total enrollment was 7.02 million pupils, of whom 46% were girls.^[17]

The renovated primary education curriculum in Vietnam is divided into two phases as follows:

• Phase 1 includes Grades 1, 2 and 3 with 9 subjects: Vietnamese Language, Mathematics, Morality, Nature and Society, Arts, Physical Education, and (since 2020) Experience Activities, Information Technology and Foreign Language.
• Phase 2 includes Grades 4 and 5 with 12 subjects: Vietnamese Language, Information Technology, Mathematics, Morality, Science (Nature and Society), History, Geography, Basic Techniques, Music, Arts, Physical Education and (since 2023) Experience Activities and Foreign Language.^[15]

Secondary education consists of lower secondary education or junior high school followed by high school or upper secondary high school.

The Technology subject aims to show the link between theory and practice. It includes four parts: home economics (in Grade 6), agriculture-forestry and aquaculture (in Grade 7), Industry (in Grade 8) and optional modules (in Grade 9).^[17]

There are a couple of admission pathways to enter a Vietnamese high school, most of them take form of a entrance examination. The most mainstream way is through the 10th Grade entrance exam (Kỳ thi tuyển sinh lớp 10), with each province organizing their own. This pathway is for students who wish to enroll in a traditional government-owned public or gifted high school. Students select high schools they want to attend and rank them. Based on the score of the exam and the student's school choices, they would be assigned a school.^[18]

The Ministry of Education and Training announced that for the graduation examination of 2017, five papers would be included: Mathematics, Literature, Foreign language, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences. Three papers are mandatory for all students: Mathematics, Literature (the only remaining essay-based exam paper which is the spiritual successor of 1075-1919 exams), and Foreign language. Foreign language exam can be one of the following: English, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Russian or Korean (since 2021). Apart from three mandatory papers, student must complete a fourth paper by choosing either natural sciences (a combination of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology) or Social Sciences (a combination of History, Geography, and Civic Education). In some cases, before 2020, students can take the Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and will choose the paper with the higher result to be evaluated.^[19]

The demand for student placements into universities outweighed the supply, where around 1.3 million students would choose to enroll into universities, 600,000 could be supplied due to lack of teaching staff at the tertiary level or post-secondary level. This prompted calls for the government to help expand the tertiary sector, especially with increasing trend of enrolments into university from 1990 to 2019.^[12][20]

Starting from the entrance exam of 2013, 10 artistic and cultural universities will remove Literature from the exam of the group H, N and S. Instead, the results of three years in high school and the scores of the HGE will be used to evaluate the candidates.^[21]

Vietnamese Government decree (decree 43/2000/ND-CP, dated August 30, 2000) identified three types of higher education institutions:

• University system (đại học), which is a multidisciplinary institution offering fields of study and which has research capacities. Six major university systems in Vietnam are Vietnam National University, Hanoi; Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City; Hue University; University of Da Nang; Thai Nguyen University; and Hanoi University of Science and Technology.
• University (or college; trường đại học), which is more narrowly focused in its curriculum, sometimes on a single study area.
• Academy (học viện), which is also narrowly focused in terms of study area and may have a specialized research capacity.^[22]

In the school year 2010–2011, Vietnam had 163 universities (including senior colleges and institutes) and 223 junior colleges, in which 50 senior colleges and 30 junior colleges are non-public.^[23]

• Associate Degree (Vietnamese: Cao đẳng): a three-year program delivered by junior colleges (including teachers colleges and others) and/or by some universities as additional training programs.
• Bachelor's degree (Vietnamese: Cử nhân): a four- to six-year program — six years for students studying medical and dental sciences; five years for students of industrial engineering; and four years for the majority of other undergraduate degrees such as Social Sciences. Graduates receive degrees with a title corresponding to their field of study such as bachelor (cử nhân), engineer (kỹ sư), medical doctor (bác sĩ), or lawyer (luật sư).^[24]

The higher education system has been criticised by Vietnam's diaspora, such as outdated curricula, a lecturer-centered method of teaching and learning, a lack of linkage between teaching and research activities, and a large discord between theory and practical training that leads to a large number of graduates being unable to find a job, while skills shortages drive inflation to double-digit levels. Vietnamese students perceive themselves to have a lack of knowledge despite being taught a lot due to the fact that the main purpose of studying was to pass exams or to achieve high test scores without real-life implementation. According to the survey on graduate employment in 2009-2010 conducted by Center for Policy Studies and Analysis- University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, among 3000 respondents, 26.2% were unemployed. Among those employed, 61% lacked sufficient working skill, 43% lacked experience, and 32% felt insecure in providing professional expertise.^[25]

Only primary schools are subsidized by the government, to 50% of the total tuition cost. Primary education quality, particularly in poorer areas, is below the required standard.^[26] The drop-out rate after fifth grade is higher for those in rural and mountainous area since most students cannot afford to attend secondary school or university due to poverty. Participatory Poverty Assessments (PPAs) found that for many poor households, child labor is considered more valuable than school attendance in short-term economics. Regular school absenteeism also leads to poorer academic performance. For poorer families, the opportunity cost of sending their children to school is perceived to be high and the long-term benefit of education cannot outweigh the short-term economic losses.^[26] In response to these challenges, the Ministry of Education and Training has implemented a number of educational reforms from 2015 onward.^[9][10][11]

Private language centers offering English as a second language are in higher demand in the larger cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Examinations such as IELTS (International English Language Testing System) or TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), and especially IELTS, have become more popular means of verified International English examinations for universities and other ventures in Vietnam.^[27]

In 2008, the Vietnamese government officially approved the Foreign Language Teaching and Learning in the National Education System in the 2008-2020 Period plan through Decision No. 1400/QD-TTg. Among other things, it set the goal of seeing 100% of students enrolled in a 10-year foreign language education program by 2020. By 2017, the goal was out of reach so the program was extended to 2025 through Decision 2080/QD-TTg.^[28]

• Vietnamese studies

Bibliography

• London, Jonathan D., ed. (2011). Education in Vietnam. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 978-9814279062.
• Dror, Olga (2018). Making Two Vietnams: War and Youth Identities, 1965–1975. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1108556163.