Educational Reform in Viet Nam: a process of change or continuity?

Abstract

Comprehensive national educational change is a complex and often difficult process. Incountries such as Viet Nam where the govemment exercises tight control over social and economicdevelopment strategies, wide scale changes to an education system are often not possible. Viet Nam'sincreasing engagement with private sector development has, however, enabled greater flexibility forimproving and strengthening its education system. In response to Viet Nam 's transition to a marketeconomy, educational planners have had to consider strategies for making the education system moreresponsive to current and future labour demands. Accordingly, beginning in the early 1990s, theGovemment of Viet Nam put in place policies to enable the education system to 'modemise'. Guidedby the principle that an investment in education is an investment in economic development, thegovernment has pursued and continues to pursue an agenda of educational refonn by means ofcurriculum reforns. Early evidence indicates that despite an initial rapid development and implementationof change-driven policies and Strategie directions, the pace of reform is slowing down. The thesisof this paper is that a programme of substanrial education change and innovation in VietNam isactually a programme of cautious reform based on select targeting of particular school populations, inthis case, populations in the arger cities, economic priority zones and urban areas.