2020-08-03, Kataoka, Sachiko, Vinh, Le Anh, Kitchlu, Sandhya, Inoue, Keiko

Education policy makers around the world marvel at Vietnam’s success in access to general education and learning outcomes. Despite the country’s relatively low level of economic development, Vietnamese students outperform students in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries on average in the program for international student assessment. What are the factors that have allowed Vietnam to achieve such success? This note shows that Vietnam’s education system shares common characteristics with other successful education systems in East Asia. While some of these factors are sociocultural - which may not be easily replicable in other countries - others are policy decisions from which leaders of other countries may learn. Following the evolution of education in postwar Vietnam, from 1975 to the present, this note highlights the key reforms pursued by the government and the resulting achievements, as well as the obstacles encountered along the way. The note also discusses challenges that Vietnam’s education system faces today in reaching its full potential as a knowledge-based economy.