Education reform in 1950

After the August Revolution, more than 90% of our population was illiterate, and the country faced numerous difficulties. The government identified eradicating illiteracy and “eradicating ignorance” as the top priority. However, at that time, due to the war, conditions did not allow for immediate reform.

It was not until 1950, after the Border Victory, that the first educational reform was carried out, replacing the 12-year general education system with a more concise 9-year system. The entire curriculum and textbooks were compiled based on 3 principles: Nationalization (using Vietnamese as the main language), scientificization (opposing dogmatic teaching) and popularization (serving the majority of the people). This is considered the ideological foundation for the revolutionary education of Vietnam.

For the first time, Vietnamese became the official language of instruction at all levels of education - a historic move that both affirmed cultural sovereignty and expanded learning opportunities for the majority of the population.

The Popular Education Movement and the Complementary Education System continued to spread, contributing to the eradication of illiteracy for millions of people. Although schools were rudimentary and lacking in facilities, they still became places to nurture patriotism and the will to resist.

Despite the war, the school system was constantly expanded to train a generation of "resistance citizens", a core human resource for the "resistance and nation building" cause.

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President Ho Chi Minh visited a cultural supplementary class for working women in Luong Yen neighborhood, Hanoi (March 27, 1956). Photo: VNA archive

Education reform in 1956

The period 1954-1975 was a major turning point in the history of Vietnam, when the country was divided into two regions with two opposing regimes and development paths. The North followed the socialist path, the South was under the influence of the US and the Republic of Vietnam government. At that time, the Party and the State always considered education an important front closely linked to the revolutionary cause.

The second educational reform in 1956 established a 10-year general education system with a comprehensive educational program, linking education and training with practice, emphasizing the concept of learning to do, learning to do immediately. Students after secondary school can participate in production labor; adults after cultural supplementary education can work in factories and enterprises.

During this period, the Southern education system maintained two parallel systems: Education under the Republic of Vietnam regime and education in the liberated zone, flexibly organizing schools, maintaining the movement of studying and training cadres to serve the resistance.

Despite the fierce war, by 1958, the North had basically eliminated illiteracy. The national education system was expanded from kindergarten to university, reaching all the way to the communes. Tens of thousands of intellectuals, engineers, doctors, and teachers were trained, becoming the key force in building the North and supporting the South.

In the liberated areas of the South, revolutionary education was maintained flexibly, schools were organized democratically, and the study movement and training of cadres to serve the resistance were steadfastly fostered.

Education reform in 1979

Preparations for the third reform began in 1960, but due to war and many objective factors, after the liberation of the South and the reunification of the country in 1975, the reform could not be implemented. It was not until 1979, after the border war, that Resolution 14 on Education Reform was issued, considered an important legal document, initiating the third education reform.

This reform had a special mission: to unify the education system across the country. At that time, education in the North was a 10-year general education system, influenced by the Soviet Union, while in the South it was a 12-year general education system, influenced by France and the United States.

The focus of the reform is to build a unified 12-year general education system, issuing a common set of programs and textbooks applicable nationwide.

The educational principle inherited from the second reform is “learning goes hand in hand with practice, education is combined with productive labor, school is closely linked with society”. In addition, the training goal is to build a new socialist human being, comprehensively developing in intelligence, morality, physical strength and aesthetics.

Although implemented in the context of national difficulties and socio-economic crisis, the 1979 reform still left its mark when it unified the national education system for the first time, laying the foundation for more extensive innovation later.

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Vietnam's education system continues to undergo many reforms and is in a period of fundamental and comprehensive reform. Photo: Pham Trong Tung

After the third reform, Vietnam’s education system has continued to undergo many innovations and is in a period of fundamental and comprehensive innovation. Thanks to that, the education sector has undergone strong “transformations”.

In particular, the 2018 General Education Program is considered a major turning point, shifting from teaching that focuses on imparting knowledge to developing capacity, focusing on STEM, experiential activities and linking assessment with practical capacity.

In addition, the school network has been completed, and universal preschool education for 5-year-old children has been firmly maintained. Policies to support poor students, students from disadvantaged areas, and ethnic minorities have contributed to improving educational equity and increasing the enrollment rate of disadvantaged groups.

It can be said that, over the past 80 years, the history of Vietnamese education has been closely linked to the nation's major turning points. From the mission of "eradicating illiteracy" in the early days of independence, to comprehensive reforms and the integration and digital transformation process today, each stage has contributed to creating the foundation for the country's development.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/3-cuoc-cai-cach-lon-dinh-hinh-nen-giao-duc-viet-nam-2438125.html