Viet Nam Closes Learning Gaps towards Education for All
Over the last two decades, Viet Nam has made remarkable strides in providing its population with access to quality education and paving the way for a more equitable and sustainable future. On the road to meeting SDG Goal 4 (quality education for all), the country is harnessing advancements in internet and technology access and increasing public and private investments to boost education infrastructure.
Today, Viet Nam boasts a nearly universal (98 per cent) primary school enrollment rate. Nine out of 10 schools across the country are connected to the internet, inching Viet Nam closer to an ambitious 100 per cent national school connectivity target. With one of the fastest growing markets for online learning, Viet Nam has enormous opportunities to establish itself as a leading regional education hub and a global example.
The country is also committed to tackling the challenges that remain in delivering fully inclusive education. This includes inequal access to quality education across ethnic, gender and income lines. Girls, children in remote areas and those from ethnic minorities and vulnerable communities often lack access to quality education. A majority of students from these groups struggle to complete upper secondary school levels, and children from families in lower-income brackets do not possess the same reading and numeracy skills as their wealthier counterparts.
The UN in Viet Nam is working with national partners to boost access to inclusive, quality education that can unlock the full potential of every child in Viet Nam. Under the coordination of the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO) and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Training, the UN in Viet Nam, including the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), is working to boost policies, pedagogy, access and infrastructure.
With UNICEF serving as the lead agency, the UN in Viet Nam also leverages global partnerships, including the Global Partnership for Education, to support national initiatives to transform the education sector.
Advancing Gender Equality and Ethnic Minority Rights with Education
Several initiatives are underway to make quality education accessible to vulnerable populations throughout Viet Nam, including girls.
One such project is UNESCO’s “We Are ABLE” or “We are Achieving Better Living and Education.” Implemented with financial support from the CJ Group, a private sector entity, this initiative supports girls’ education to promote greater social development and gender equality. It aims to expand the capacity for experiential learning, youth-led communication initiatives and gender-responsive counselling in rural schools through the introduction of a diverse curricula that prioritizes socio-emotional learning and addresses gender-based school violence and inequalities. The project reached more than 8,000 students and their parents as well as hundreds of teachers and school managers in 15 rural schools with ethnic minority students in the provinces of Cao Bang, Ninh Thuan and Vinh Long.
UNESCO also worked with UN Women, Vinh Long’s Department of Education and Training and local partners to advocate for a more inclusive environment for all learners, particularly girls, to mark the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform of Actions, World Teachers’ Day and International Girl Child Day.
Tackling the issue of gender-based violence in schools, UN Women is collaborating with the Ministry to launch a UN-supported toolkit that promotes respectful learning environments nationwide, training teachers and students alike in 3 cities.
UNICEF supported the Ministry of Education and Training with a new national Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework expected to roll out in 2025, focusing on socio-emotional learning, gender transformative teaching and learning pedagogies and approaches. UNICEF also worked on initiatives to empower ethnic girls in remote mountainous areas through, digital learning, inspiring them to enter the Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics fields, as well as activities to make quality education accessible in multiple languages. Through these projects, teachers are enabled and training materials are prepared to reach Hmong, J’rai, and Khmer children. This work has been led by UNICEF, in collaboration with the Ministry’s Viet Nam National Institute of Educational Sciences (VNIES) and, the Departments of Education and Training of Lào Cai, Gia Lai and Trà Vinh.
Breaking Barriers for Students with Disabilities
The UN in Viet Nam also supports the work of the government in breaking barriers and transforming the education landscape in the country for persons with disability. The UN team works with disability champions and advocates to harness the power of technology and boost inclusive, quality education. UNICEF, VNIES and the Global Digital Library, a “curated collection of free learning resources,” are partnering to adapt digital books into sign language. The initiative currently brings learning to students with disabilities in Soc Trang, in Viet Nam’s Mekong Delta. Ms. Tong Ta Kieu, a special education teacher who has used these learning resources confirms the impact, noting, “The diverse topics have helped expand sign language vocabulary and enhance conversational skills". "With less time spent explaining, the workload lightened, allowing for more focused support and group activities," she observes.
“Vi vu”, a Vietnamese text-to-speech software in southern dialect, is also utilized to enhance digital accessibility for visually-impaired individuals, including in education. An initiative of UNICEF and ATscale, a cross-sector partnership hosted by the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), this innovation “aims to improve people’s lives by increasing access to assistive technology.”
The UN in Viet Nam team also works with partners to engage with young people on the critical importance of disability inclusion in education. With the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the team launched a campaign promoting the role of education in building leadership and spurring innovation. Among others, the campaign highlights Huynh Huu Canh, a visually-impaired advocate, educator and inventor who gives back to vulnerable communities in Kien Giang province through Braille and piano lessons after earning an advanced university education.
Investing in Teachers to Transform Education Delivery
The UN in Viet Nam team also recognizes the critical role of teachers in delivering the country’s ambitious vision. In this context, UNESCO supported the drafting of the country’s first law on teachers, which sets out the mechanisms governing working conditions, qualifications, roles, status, skills, etc. for teachers to effectively deliver their missions. Working with the Ministry of Education and Training, UNESCO provided policy guidance and technical support during the drafting process.
Viet Nam’s National Assembly is expected to discuss the law this year, which, if passed, would be a first for the nation and will bolster its competitiveness, people’s well-being and boost Viet Nam’s position as a regional and global leader in the education sector.
Viet Nam’s story is one of progress, but its success will be truly measured when every child possess the skills and capacity to compete at the national, regional and global level to achieve a brighter future. By investing in inclusive and equitable education today, Viet Nam is planting the seeds of a generation that will define this future. The UN in Viet Nam remains a committed partner at every step of this journey, working hand in hand with national authorities and the people of Viet Nam to deliver tangible results that leave no one behind.
For more information about the UN's work in Viet Nam, please visit vietnam.un.org
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