Change and Continuity of Education Reforms in Vietnam

Abstract

This paper provides an account of the history of education reforms in contemporary Vietnam. It begins with a brief overview of education in Vietnam and the characteristics of the education system as a consequence of previous reform movements, their goals and foci. This chapter then analyses the major social, historical, legal, political, and economic reasons that have driven recent Vietnamese education reform movements, highlighting the complex ways that they have affected one another. By employing characterisation of the niches of the school improvement industry in the U.S., the chapter proposes a niche-based understanding of the education reform landscape in the country, exploring established and potential reform spaces and actors, with a focus on their transactions within these spaces. The framework is then used to characterise and describe some major reform movements in post-war and post-economic-reform Vietnam, exploring them on macro, meso, and micro levels. It closes with a note on the persisting problems that remain despite these reform efforts, as well as some implications for the future of education reform in the country.