LANGUAGE LEARNING MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT

VIETNAM

MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT
Education in System
It 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 education
basic. Basic education consists of five
years of primary education, four years of
intermediate education, and three years
of secondary education. The majority of
basic education students are enrolled on
a half-day basis. The main education goal
in Vietnam is "improving people's
general knowledge, training quality
human resources, and nurturing and
fostering talent."
 LANGUAGE LEARNING MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT

The Vietnamese people respect education and place a high

value on learning. Lessons were learned from the colonial
exploitation by the French who excluded the Vietnamese
from educational opportunities. Only the so-call French elite
were allowed to participate in educational activities. During
the Vietnam War many schools were destroyed or damaged,
and classes were forced to be cancelled.

Today, primary education is compulsory and tuition “free.” According to the

General Department of Statistics of Vietnam, the national literacy rate in
Vietnam has reached 97.3 percent for those aged 15-50. Technology also
figures into learning at an early age. Nearly all 6-year olds and 43.7 percent
of laborers have basic knowledge of computers.

Education in Vietnam
Vietnam recognizes education as a national
priority. Since 2008, the government has been
spending 20% of its budget on education. The
government’s strong commitment to
education and long standing cultural and
social support for education have led to
significant progress in the sector.

Vietnam has high primary school completion

rates, strong gender parity, low
student/teacher ratios, and a low out of school
rate. The country policy “Fundamental School
Quality Level Standards” provided universal
access to education and ensured that minimal
conditions were met in every primary school.
The overall objectives of the Education Development Strategic Plan (EDSP) are
to renovate the education system, move closer to regional and international
quality standards, and ensure social equity and lifelong learning opportunities.

The EDSP outlines further objectives for all levels of education:

1.Achieve universal early childhood and care education to ensure that all children
have the proper intellectual, emotional, and physical development necessary to
enter primary school.
2.Improve and maintain the quality of universal lower secondary education and
pursue universal upper secondary education in economically disadvantaged
localities.
3.Strengthen ethnic minority boarding schools and provide inclusive education at all
levels.
4.Restructure the vocational education system, establish new colleges that
respond to learning needs, and ensure that students are equipped with the
professional skills to participate in the international labor market.

5.Expand non-public higher education and provide more university preparatory

institutions for ethnic minorities.

6.Diversify various forms of continuing education and create life-long learning

opportunities to continuously improve professional qualifications.
 Latest grant :
Vietnam Escuela
Nueva Project

The Vietnam Escuela Nueva Project began in early 2013 and

closed in May 2016. The project’s objective was to introduce
and use new and child-centered teaching and learning
practices in the classroom targeting the most
disadvantaged groups at the primary level.

 The four components of the grant were:

1.Support the development of learning guides

2.Support the development of
and other materials for teachers, schools, and
training materials, delivering
communities, as well as capacity building to
education administrators, teachers, and other trainings, and providing materials.
stakeholders in material development.

3.Provide school level support for Escuela Nueva

implementation through school campus sub-grants,
school equipment and furniture, teaching and learning
aids, training activities, and extra-curricular activities.
This component also supports providing grants to
selected schools in most disadvantaged areas.
4.Provide support for project management
at central and provincial levels and for
knowledge management, classroom
assessment, and an impact evaluation.
VIETNAM
OUTPERFORMS
WESTERN COUNTRIES
IN EDUCATION
Not long ago, Vietnam left the education world aghast after PISA (Programme for
International Student Assessment) released its official test results ranking Vietnam as
17th, well above the United States in all subjects - which ranked 23rd in reading, 36th
in math, and 28th in science. Vietnam’s 15-year olds participated for the first time in
this international assessment in 2015, which includes 65 countries and tests student’s
academic abilities in three primary subjects. These facts have left many Western
countries dumbfounded as to how Vietnam managed to gain such breakneck
academic success, despite holding such a low economic status. Out of Vietnam’s
poorest 15-year-olds, nearly 17% scored in the top 25% on the international
assessment
 three key factors to this academic
phenomenon.

Years of Financial A Strict and Focused

Investment in Education Curriculum

Social Awareness in the Power

of Education
Years of Financial
Investment in Education
Compared to other countries in the world, Vietnam spends
significantly more money on its educational system than its
Western counterparts, dedicating 21% of all government funds
to academia. According to OECD, this is the highest of all 65
countries that participate in the PISA assessments. Vietnam’s
government has inarguably made education a top priority and
its leaders have created a firm focus on growth in this area.
A Strict and Focused
Curriculum
One unique aspect of Vietnam’s curriculum is its traditional and
pedagogical nature. As most developed countries have moved
away from this dogmatic style of learning, Vietnam has clung on
to its past methodology and opted not to mimic modern academic
systems. This results in a highly strict learning environment, which
provides students with the discipline to fully grasp the content
they are immersed in. Unlike Western countries, whose academic
styles aim wide in order to model well-rounded students, Vietnam
shoots straight at its target. This precision and singularity of
direction allows students to fully grasp the required content with a
deep and thorough understanding in many contexts.
Social Awareness in the
Power of Education
In Vietnam, parental pressure in regards to academic
achievement is widespread and children are expected to
study for long hours as the vast majority of parents view
education, and the potential to study abroad, as a clear
cut key to future success. Out of the 65 countries that
participate in PISA, Vietnam ranked 8th in this category.
Firm pressure from parents, coupled with a demanding
curriculum and a high rate of accountability helps
motivate the students to study, and understand the
importance of such institutions.
The Path Ahead: Streamlined
Curriculum for the 21st Century

The next step for Vietnam is to provide better quality

schooling that fosters higher-order cognitive and behavioral
skills (such as creative and critical thinking) for more young
people. Accordingly, the Ministry of Education and Training
(MOET) is working with K–12 educators on an ambitious
reform to design coherent, focused, high-quality curricular
standards that optimize learning and promote the
competencies needed to master content and apply
knowledge.
Upgrading Instructional
Practice for Effective
Implementation
While curricular reform is an important step,
the resulting change in classroom instruction is
what matters. Ensuring policies and practices
are aligned across the education system will
require close attention to how the new
curriculum is taught (and assessed).

 Outwards orientation to keep

the system evolving
Vietnam eagerly takes inspiration from abroad. Its experts regularly
study curriculum reform in high-performing countries like Korea and
Singapore. The country also participates in several initiatives focused
on developing innovative teaching methods (such as the Escuela Nueva
pilot adapted from Colombia) and deeper learning skills (including
these ASEAN seminars). In addition, new K–12 and higher education
reforms incorporate lessons learned from previous reforms.

CHALLENGES REMAIN

Yet there are quality

improvements and gaps to close
in attainment and achievement:

 Excellence of education:

Among all Vietnamese education problems, outmoded teaching

systems are one of the chief issues plaguing the Vietnamese
instruction system. Teachers frequently emphasis more on discipline
in the schoolroom than on active interaction and discussions.
Censorship as well as interference from the government are
dominant and can make a stifling teaching atmosphere.

Excellence of teaching:

As declared above, the quality of teaching in the schoolrooms

depends mainly on the individual educator. If you send your child
to a Vietnamese institute, they will be likely to remain passively
studious and attentive. Aimed at children who are castoff to the
teaching approaches that are common in the Western nations, it
may derive as a bit of a shock.
 Out-of-school children

Nearly 37 percent of Vietnamese children are not enrolled in

upper secondary school. Since PISA assesses learning of 15-year-
olds in school, scores were likely inflated by the
underrepresentation of students from low-income and
disadvantaged groups. A major challenge is to reduce early school
dropout and related inequities while maintaining quality.

 Changing skill needs

As Vietnam's economy evolves, good basic numeracy and literacy

skills will no longer suffice. The labor market increasingly
demands a mix of high-quality cognitive, behavioral, and technical
skills—skills employers say are rare among graduates.

 Better pedagogical strategies

Although Vietnamese policymakers have promoted better teaching and active learning methods since
the 1990s, lecture-style, rote learning remains the dominant practice. On school, teacher-centered
approaches were the norm, and students seemed conditioned to receive knowledge passively. Active,
student-centered approaches were rare (the classroom pictured above was a notable exception). Not
surprisingly, an analysis of PISA findings implies Vietnamese students lack confidence in applying
learning to practice.

Students and
Teachers