Education in Vietnam

Education Structure

 

This diagram can also be viewed as a PDF: Ed in Vietnam 2011

You’ll find above the ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education) model for Vietnam’s system of education. The country has a population of over 86 million people and 60% of  the population is under 35 years old. This makes education is definitely one of the government’s main priorities.

After the “Doi Moi” reform was put into effect, education was re-structured. In 1990, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education in Vietnam were combined to create the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). Today MOET is responsible for all education and training at the national level. MOET is divided into units in order to regulate all levels of education including early childhood education, general education, professional education, tertiary education and continuing education.

The following information, unless cited otherwise, can be found in part 2 of the 2010 report by the Workbank on education in Vietnam:

ISCED 0- Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE): The ECCE includes crèches and kindergartens. Crèches and kindergarten institutions can be public, people-funded or private, and they accept infants at the age of 3 months up to the age of 3 years old.

ISCED 1- Senior Kindergarten: Senior kindergarten is for children from ages 3 to 6 years old. Their purpose is to prepare children to enter into primary school. These institutions can also be public, people-funded or private.

ISCED 2- Primary Education: Primary education lasts for 5 years and begins with 6-year-old children. Primary education is publicly funded and all children are expected to be instructed on the same material. The subjects that children are taught include Vietnamese language, Mathematics, Moral Education, Social Sciences, History, Physical Education and Arts.

ISCED 3- Secondary Education/ Professional Training: Secondary education starts at age 11 and lasts for 4 years at the lower level. Entry into lower secondary school is universal: every student who completes primary school is eligible to enroll at a lower secondary school. These institutions are publicly funded. If a student decides to begin professional training just after primary education, at age 11, they finish their education 2 years later at the age of 13. Vietnam wants all of its citizens to be literate, but if parents decide that further education is not important or not needed, they can choose to have their child complete 2 years of professional training, usually in agriculture, so that the child can then focus on helping at home. Choosing to complete professional training after primary education creates a dead-end for a student’s education. The training is publicly funded

Upper secondary education begins at age 14 and last for 3 or 4 years depending on which type the student chooses. Students can go to specialized secondary education, vocational education, professional education, or professional training, depending on their interests for higher education.  If a student chooses professional training at that point, they learn a specific skill for 2 years, and are then at a dead-end for moving up in education, so they go into the workforce. Students who enroll in specialized secondary education spend 3 years at their institution and usually go directly to a university afterwards. If a student chooses vocational or professional education, the duration is for 3 to 4 years and the student will learn more practical skills. The student could choose to go into the workforce afterward, or enroll at a college or university. All of these institutions are public ones, as well.

ISCED 4- Non-formal Education: Before Vietnam’s education reforms, non-formal education was very popular as there were not many institutions available for families living in rural parts of the country. With the reforms, an emphasis was put onto public, centralized education. However, non-formal education still exists for youth (starting around age 6) and adults. The most common non-formal education institutes are community learning centers aimed at teaching reading and writing skills to youth and adults (Lam, 2007).

ISCED 5- College: Colleges are mostly public and are available to graduates of specialized, vocational, and professional upper secondary institutions. It is most common among vocational and professional students, as they can transfer credits earned from their extra year of training and graduate in a shorter amount of time with a more advanced, practical degree (MOET, 2006).

ISCED 6- University : Universities are more common for specialized upper secondary education graduates, as these graduate are studying in less “practical fields”. Also, these students are more likely to continue on to earn a master’s degree, and enrollment at a graduate institution requires students to have obtained a degree from a university (MOET, 2006). As with colleges, universities are mostly public. Private and semi-private universities are poor as they do not receive funding from the government, and students are less encourages to enroll at private universities.

ISCED 7- Post Graduate Education: Master programs last for 2 years and they require students to have obtained a bachelor’s degrees from a university (MOET, 2006). Master programs focus mainly on strong theoretical background, but they combine theory with practical skills in various areas of studies. As with universities, both public and private master’s programs exist, but public ones are much more popular.

ISCED 8- Doctorate: Doctorates requires at least a bachelor’s degree and preferably a master’s degree for enrollment. Students typically enroll for 4 years, or for two years if they already have a master’s degree (MOET, 2006). The purpose of doctorate programs is to further develop theory and skills learned during a master’s program. Doctorate programs are still in development and they are not of the highest quality, but with continued funds and concentration the programs will hopefully ameliorate.

Information from:

“Education in Vietnam”. World Bank. (2010). http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1121703274255/1439264-1153425508901/Education_Vietnam_Development.pdf

“Higher Education in Vietnam”. (2006). Vietnam Education MOET.http://en.moet.gov.vn/?page=6.7&view=4404 

Lam, Chau. “Vietnam non-formal education”. (2007). UNESCO. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001555/155517e.pdf

Runkel, Christopher W. (2011). “System in Vietnam” Business in Asia. http://www.business-in-asia.com/vietnam/education_system_in_vietnam.html