9 orientations of the General Secretary for a generation of global citizens with Vietnamese identity

In a letter to students nationwide on the occasion of the opening day of the first school year of independent Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh affirmed: “From this moment on, you will begin to receive a completely Vietnamese education ... You will receive an education of an independent country, an education that will train you to become useful citizens of Vietnam, an education that will fully develop your existing abilities .”

Students of Viet Bac High School ( Thai Nguyen ) on the opening day. Photo: Le Anh Dung

Amidst the many worries of the revolutionary government when the fate of the nation was hanging by a thread, the letter sent to students nationwide on the occasion of the "first school opening day in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam" showed President Ho Chi Minh's great concern and expectations for the generation of students of the new regime - a regime where there was no longer a slave education system.

As the leader of the revolutionary boat amidst the stormy waves of internal and external enemies, President Ho Chi Minh, more than anyone else, was fully aware of the importance of education in the process of building and developing the country. Especially at that time, the whole country had 95% of the population illiterate.

The determination to build a “completely Vietnamese” education system when we had almost nothing and the determination of a nation that had just gained freedom and independence was a great challenge. But that was enough to show the ultimate purpose and goal of the new education system: an education for the Vietnamese people.

Those teachings have been, are and will continue to be the goal to strive for and the motto for action of the country's education, aiming to make education truly become the top national policy, the key driving force for national development and the future of the nation.

Building a "completely Vietnamese education"

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the new school year 2025-2026 held nationwide, after reviewing the achievements of the revolutionary education sector over the past 80 years, General Secretary To Lam emphasized the need to vigorously carry out the reform of education and training, considering it a prerequisite action to realize the goal of building a "completely Vietnamese education system", where students can study, develop all their abilities and qualifications, and become useful citizens for the country as Uncle Ho expected.

General Secretary To Lam attended the ceremony to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the education sector's tradition and the opening of the new school year at the National Convention Center on the morning of September 5. Photo: Pham Hai

The General Secretary requested that the entire Party must strongly innovate its leadership thinking on education, not impose old standards on a modern education system, but need to closely and substantially direct, organize and implement resolutely and effectively, and consistently consider education as the top national policy.

The National Assembly needs to perfect the legal system, creating a smooth, stable and progressive legal corridor for the cause of education and training innovation.

The Government increases investment, ensures financial resources, facilities, and staff; at the same time, resolutely removes bottlenecks in mechanisms and policies to unblock and maximize the mobilization of all social resources for education.

The Front, unions, and social organizations need to promote the strength of great solidarity, encourage and spread the movement of the entire people to care for the cause of educating people.

We must put the issue of strongly renewing the Party's leadership thinking on education first, because it is not until now that we have discussed "educational innovation", including Resolution 29 dated November 4, 2013 "On fundamental and comprehensive innovation of education and training, meeting the requirements of industrialization and modernization in the conditions of a socialist-oriented market economy and international integration".

9 major orientations

However, over the past 10 years, perhaps without needing to be repeated, we have witnessed the "confusion", if not "mess", causing the whole society to be "swept away" by the inconsistent policies of the education sector.

From the innovation of general education programs, changing textbooks towards having many sets of books; the issue of exams, university and postgraduate training; the uncontrolled development of the private university system; domestic and foreign training cooperation activities... leading to "problems" in output quality.

These shortcomings were once again pointed out by General Secretary To Lam in his speech on September 5. That is, “the quality of education in the country is still uneven, with large regional differences. Fundamental and comprehensive education reform is not yet synchronous, and there is confusion in both perception and action. University education is slow to innovate, and the linkage between training - research - labor market is not tight. Teaching methods in many places do not encourage creativity and self-study capacity. Facilities, digital transformation and international integration are still limited and inadequate. There was a period when education did not fully promote its role as a driving force for development…”.

Teachers and students of Nguyen Viet Xuan Primary School, Yen Hoa Ward, Hanoi. Photo: The Bang

Those limitations, shortcomings and stagnation must be resolved through a specific, synchronous action program with high determination and great aspirations of the entire Party, people and political system.

In particular, the education sector needs to be a pioneer in innovating thinking, methods, and management; building a team of teachers who are knowledgeable, ethical, and have a desire to contribute. Teachers must be shining examples and sources of inspiration for students. Students must nurture great ambitions and aspirations, study and practice to become global citizens, gradually integrating into international standards but always maintaining the Vietnamese identity and soul.

The General Secretary pointed out nine major orientations to implement this requirement.

That is: Strongly innovating thinking and action, shifting from "corrective" reform to creative thinking - leading national development through education; ensuring equal access to education, prioritizing remote, isolated and disadvantaged areas; comprehensively innovating general education, forming a generation of talented - compassionate - resilient people; creating breakthroughs in higher education and vocational training; promoting international integration; taking care of building a team of teachers and educational managers; promoting digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI); prioritizing investment, considering investment in education as investment in the future of the nation; planning and arranging the system (especially public universities) to form training - research - innovation centers on par with the region and reaching international standards; building a learning society, lifelong learning so as not to fall behind, to master knowledge and technology, develop oneself and contribute to building a strong and prosperous country.

These are also the basic contents mentioned in Resolution 71 dated August 22 of the Politburo on “Breakthrough in education and training development” issued recently. A resolution that is evaluated by experts as reforming Vietnamese education, helping Vietnamese education and Vietnamese higher education to “take off” in the coming time.

Luong The Vinh grade 6 students in red shirts with yellow stars form the image of the Fatherland - a symbol of patriotism nurtured from the first steps of school. Photo: Hoang Ha

A series of new policies on education and training have been introduced and implemented recently such as: Free tuition for all students from kindergarten to high school, some localities provide free lunch for children studying 2 sessions and recently, the Politburo agreed on the policy of investing in building inter-level boarding schools in 248 land border communes, then Resolution 71...

That shows that our Party and State have shown their determination to continue to comprehensively reform the country's education system so that Vietnam has a modern, equitable and high-quality national education system, ranked among the top 20 countries in the world, contributing to making Vietnam a developed, high-income country by 2045, when the country celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/9-dinh-huong-cua-tong-bi-thu-vi-mot-the-he-cong-dan-toan-cau-mang-ban-sac-viet-2440011.html