SUMMARY OF NATIONAL REPORT

SUCCESSFUL POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR A LIFE LONG LEARNING

IN VIETNAM
This report was built on a study about policies related to lifelong learning and the
implementation of these polices in Vietnam. Reports from various governmental bodies and
ministries related to the construction of a learning society in the country were also reviewed
for an evaluation of the results. Besides, a number of workshops, seminars and interviews
with experts in the field were organized to ensure the reliability of what was incorporated in
the report. Following are main contents of the report.
1. Definitions of Learning Society and Lifelong Learning
Based on a study about policies and practices in the construction of a learning society in
Vietnam, definitions of Learning Society and Lifelong Learning were included in the report.
2. Success in the development of policies
One of the successes in the construction of a learning society in Vietnam is that the
country has issued a number of policies and legal documents related to the promotion of
learning society and lifelong learning. The research team has collected all official documents
related to the promotion of learning society and lifelong learning such as resolutions of the
Communist Party, Education Law and decisions of the government. Most notable of these
documents are the Decision No. 112/2005/Q-TTg dated 18/5/2005 by the Prime Minister on
the approval of the project Construction of a learning society for the period 2005 2010;
the Decision No. 711/Q-TTg dated 13/6/2012 by the Prime Minister on the introduction of
Education Strategies for the period 2011 2020; and the Decision No. 89/Q-TTg dated
9/01/2013 by the Prime Minister on the approval of the project Construction of a learning
society for the period 2012 2020.
3. Success in the establishment of responsible bodies for the construction of a learning
society
Another success of Vietnam is the establishment of responsible bodies for the construction
of a learning society and promotion of lifelong learning. Beside the Ministry of Education
and Training, other responsible bodies are the Learning Promotion Association and the
Central Steering Committee for the Construction of Learning Society, now replaced by the
National Committee for the Renovation of Education and Training, headed by the Prime
Minister.
4. Success in the development of lifelong learning facilitation system
This system consists of the National Education System, Professional Development
Systems for Ministries and Organizations and the Open Learning System.
4.1. The National Education System
The system consists of sub-systems for full-time education and continuous training. The
National Education System provide education and training at various levels: Pre-school
Education (Kindergartens and Crches), Primary Education (Primary School), Secondary
Education (Junior and Senior High Schools), Vocational Education (Vocational and Technical
Schools), and Higher Education (Graduate and Post-graduate levels). The delivery modes for
continuous training include In-Service and Distance Learning.
Following are some achievements of the National Education System for the school year
2015 - 2016:
The total enrolment for the school year 2015 -2016 is: 7, 790,009 primary school pupils;
5,138,646 junior high school pupils; 2,425,130 senior high school pupils; 315,000 students at
Vocational and Technical Schools; 44,558 students at associate bachelor level and 1,740,665
students at bachelor level. By June 2016, 63/63 provinces reached the target for the
universalization of education, with 100% districts crossing the target; 89.46% of people in
the age group 15-18 finished junior secondary education. 96.83% of people in the age group
15 60 is literate, 98.1% for the age group15-35 and 95.35% for the age group 36 60.
29,503 people attend literacy programs (increased by 1,991 compared to the previous school
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year); 9,122 attend post-literacy programs (decreased by 3,745 compared to the previous
school year).
Nationwide, there are 733 centers for continuous training, 73 at provincial level and 660 at
district level. 94.96% of districts have centers for continuous training. Of these centers, there
are 289 (43.79%) centers for only continuous training; 185 (28.03%) centers for both
continuous training and vocational training; 185 (28.03%) centers for continuous training,
vocational and also technical training. There are 1,538 centers for Training in Information
Technology and Foreign Languages. 27,703 people have attended Junior Secondary
Education Enforcement Programs and 187,847 people have attended Senior Secondary
Education Enforcement Programs.
Distance Education is provided by 21 universities, including Hanoi Open University and
Hochiminh City Open University, the main providers of Distance Education, with the total
enrolment of 161,047, of whom 336 students majoring in basic sciences, 45,541 in humanity
and social sciences, 57,140 in business administration, and 13,147 in technology and 44,883
in education.
4.2. The systems for professional development at ministries and organizations
Nationwide, 94.4% of officials and cadres at district and province levels meet the national
quality standards (5.6% lower than the set target); 89.9% of officials and cadres in leadership
positions have attended enrichment training programs (1.6% higher than the set target);
90.7% of officials and cadres at village level have attended programs for leadership and
management knowledge and skills (9.3% lower than the set target). 89% of officials and
cadres at village level meet the national quality standards (1% lower than the set target);
77.1% of officials and cadres at village level have attended compulsory enrichment training
programs (7.1% higher than the set target).
70.9% of workers at export processing zones and industrial parks have senior secondary
education (9.1% lower than the set target); skilled workers account for 46.6% of workers in
strategic industries; trained workers account for 70.6% (14.4% lower than the set target).
4.3. The Open Learning System
By 2015, 11,038 out of 11,131, villages had village level community-learning centers,
accounting for 99.16% of villages nationwide. In the period 2009-2014, these communitylearning centers provided literacy programs for 132,016 people, post-literacy programs for
105,368 people, short-term vocational training programs for 1.720.717 and organized
71.372.295 subject-specific seminars.
Together with the activities of village level community learning centers, the Learning
Promotion Association has launched movements to build up Learning Families, Learning
Clans, Learning Communities. By 2015, there were 8,427,421 Learning Families,
65,200 Learning Clans and 70,356 Learning Communities.
Besides, a variety of educational programs have been launched via TV and Radio
programs by mass media bodies such as VTV2, VTV4, VTV5, VOV. Especially in 2016, a
National TV Channel for Education was established, "For a Learning Society.
5. Success in raising funds to promote learning
- State funds
Since 1998, the state fund for education has been increasing, from 13% of the state
spending in 1998 to 20% of the state spending in 2015, at 224.826 billion VND in 2015. The
government has also set aside 340 billion VND for the project to promote learning for the
period 2011-2020.
- Socialized funds
During the period 2001-2005, every year, the Learning Promotion Association received
around 4.5 billion VND from sponsors. Since 2010, the association has received
14,264,546,350 VND from sponsors. The association also organizes events to call for
supports from individuals, enterprises and organizations, and these events have brought in
49,277,674,000 VND for the association. By the year 2000, the network of the association
had spread nationwide, with a Learning Promotion Fund in almost all localities. By the end
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2006, the total sum in these funds was 450 billion VND. By early 2010, a number of
provinces and cities have a Learning Promotion Fund of more than 10 billion VND a year. In
the period 2011-2015, the association could raise a sum of 8,642,452,633,000 billion VND.
6. Obstacles that Vietnam has overcome in the construction of a Learning Society and
the promotion of Lifelong Learning
In the past years, Vietnam has made successes in overcoming various obstacles, some of
which are:
- The awareness of adult learners, especially poor people and people with low level of
education, people who work in agriculture, manual workers, for learning has been
increased; a number of policies to encourage these people to continue learning to increase
productivity in their work have been introduced and implemented.
- Differences between regular and non-regular types of education and training in terms of
curricula, contents, testing and evaluation have been abolished As a result, the quality of
non-regular education and training has increased, shown in the productivity of people who
have this type of education. This, in turn, has changed the attitude of people about nonregular education and training.
- The promotion of distance education, especially online learning, has created learning
opportunities, including lifelong learning, for many people. The number of people attending
distance education programs has been increasing.
- A number of policies to reduce or exempt school fees for students, to subsidize schools in
deprived areas, to mobilize funds for educationhave been introduced and implemented.
This has helped many people with financial difficulties to continue their learning. Distance
education providers themselves also have made big investments on distance education
technologies to create more learning opportunities for all.
7. Some short-comings in the construction of a Learning Society and Lifelong Learning
- There are still in synergies in the education system, imbalances in the structure of
education programs and the development of different localities, prejudices against some types
of education, especially in higher education. The connection between different components
such as universal education, vocational education, continuous education, higher education
is still weak.
- Most universities which provide distance education have financial difficulties in their
investments on distance education, while infrastructure, technologies, learning material
development, content developmentfor distance education require heavy investments.
- The co-ordination between different ministries and different localities is still weak; there
are imbalances in the allocation of funds for education; the resources for education are not
used in effective ways; state funds for education do not focus on priorities; spending for
professional development is low; the autonomy of education institution is low
- The infrastructure and facilities at many community learning centers are still poor.
8. Recommendations
1. Speed up the renovation of the education system toward openness, flexibility, diversity,
multiple types and levels, stronger connection between education levels and education types,
especially the connection between literacy programs and post-literacy programs with
programs in universal education, to meet the diverse demands for learning of the society;
abolish discrimination between different types of education, especially in higher education to
encourage lifelong learning; develop Massive Open Online Courses for learning society and
lifelong learning.
2. Increase state funds for distance education to modernize distance education
technologies; pay special attention to online distance education; unify training processes for
credit transfers in distance education; increase the quality and quantity of teachers, tutors,
mentorsfor distance education; improve support services for distance education students.
3. Enrich the project Communication on the Construction of Learning Society and
Lifelong Learning with Propagandas to increase the understanding of local leaders about
the objectives, significance, roles, benefits and models of Lifelong Learning and about
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different types of education. Only when local leaders understand about the objectives,
significance, roles, benefits and models of lifelong learning do they support the construction
of learning society; this in turn will help to increase the status of continuous training centers,
community learning centers and to effectively implement community learning models,
encourage people to actively take part in learning activities, which will help to form a
learning society and promote lifelong learning among people.
4. Reinforce Hanoi Open University and Hochiminh City Open University; encourage
these two universities to work with the Learning Promotion Association and other
organizations to promote open learning, community learning, short-term trainingto meet
diverse demands for lifelong learning.
5. Reinforce community learning centers and encourage these centers to work with
organizations and enterprises to design training programs suitable to learning demands. The
ministry of education and training and the Bureau for Vocational Training should develop
learning materials and guidebooks for these centers to provide more diverse and suitable
programs for learning society.
6. Disseminate and implement successful models of Learning Family, Learning Clan,
Learning Communityon larger scales with higher effectiveness to encourage lifelong
learning in every family, clan, organizations