Vietnam Education @ A Glance

According to The World Bank, Vietnam has accomplished great progress in the field of
education during the past decade. The primary net enrollment rate has increased from 86
percent in 1990 to 91 percent in 2003 and the dropout rate has declined from 12 percent to
about 3 percent.

Vietnam has also significantly developed lower secondary education opportunities and
expanded access to more students. The transition rate from primary to lower secondary has
increased from 78 percent to 88 percent and a majority of young Vietnamese have gained
access to nine years of basic education.

The Ninth Congress of Vietnam Communist Party has affirmed the overall goals of the socio-
economic strategic plan for 2001-2010 as follows: "To bring our country out of an under-
developed situation, to increase significantly the level of material, cultural and spiritual life of
people, to lay down the foundation for our country to become basically an industrialized,
modernized nation by 2020".To achieve these goals, the role of education and science and
technology has to become decisive and the requirements for the development of education
must become urgent.
VIETNAMESE EDUCATION STATS:

Number of schools of general education (as of 30 September 2007)

2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005- 2006-
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Number of schools (School) 25825 26352 26817 27227 27593
Primary school 14163 14346 14518 14688 14834
Lower secondary school 8396 8745 9041 9383 9635
Upper secondary school 1532 1664 1828 1952 2044
Primary and lower
secondary school 1197 1143 1034 889 773
Lower and upper secondary
school 537 454 396 315 307
Number of classes
(Thous.classes) 522.2 520.9 519.7 508.7 501.2
Primary 308.8 299.4 288.9 276.6 270.2
Lower secondary 161.3 165.7 170.9 167.5 163.8
Upper secondary 52.1 55.8 59.9 64.6 67.2

No. of Schools in Vietnam

30000 26817 27227 27593

25825 26352
25000
20000 Number of schools (School)
15000
Number of classes
10000 (Thousands of classes)
5000
522.2 520.9 519.7 508.7 501.2
0
2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005- 2006-
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Period

Source: General Statistics Office of Vietnam

University and college education

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Number of schools (School) 202 214 230 255 299

Public 179 187 201 220 253
Non-public 23 27 29 35 46
Number of teachers (Thous.
pers.) 38.7 40.0 47.6 48.6 53.4
Public 33.4 34.9 40.0 42.0 45.6
 Non-public 5.3 5.1 7.6 6.6 7.7
Number of students (Thous.
students) 1020.7 1131.0 1319.8 1387.1 1666.2
Public 908.8 993.9 1182.0 1226.7 1456.7
Non-public 111.9 137.1 137.8 160.4 209.5
Of which:Full-time training 604.4 653.7 729.4 836.7 917.2
Public 493.8 529.6 601.8 698.4 754.9
Non-public 110.6 124.1 127.6 138.3 162.3
Number of graduates (Thous.
students) 166.8 165.7 195.6 210.9 230.0
Public 152.6 152.6 180.8 195.0 214.0
Non-public 14.2 13.1 14.8 16.0 16.0

Number of Colleges and Universities in Vietnam

1800 1666.2
1600
1387.1
1400 1319.8
1131.0
1200 1020.7 Number of schools
1000 (Schools)
800 Number of students
600 (Thousands of students)
400 255 299
202 214 230
200
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Year

Source: General Statistics Office of Vietnam

In the school year 2006-2007, in the whole country, there were 907 thousand pupils
attending senior secondary school graduating exam and 158.3 thousand pupils attending
supplementary secondary school graduating exam. The rate of graduated senior secondary
schooling pupils achieved 66.7% and the rate of pupils graduating supplementary secondary
school was 26.6%. Both of these rates decreased strongly as compared with the rates of last
school year.

There were 111.3 thousand official enrolling indicators for 88 universities and colleges under
Ministry of Education and Training in the school year 2007-2008, increasing by 8% over last
school year. Of which university were 96,000 indicators, colleges were 15,300 indicators and
professional high school: 12,900 indicators. Of the total, indicators for non-state universities
rose by 18%. There were 1.9 million official files registering to university and college exam, of
which 71% for university and 29% for college.
Enrolment ratio
> Secondary 62.5% [75th of 135]
level
Grade 1 intake
78.1 [38th of 114]
rate
School life
10.8
expectancy > [64th of 97]
Male years
School life
10.4
expectancy > [72nd of 110]
years
Total
Spending on
teaching 6 [6th of 30]
materials

SOURCES: World Development Indicators database; UNESCO; World Bank; CIA World
Factbook; UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Spending on teaching materials by country:

DEFINITION: Public expenditure on teaching materials, primary level is the amount spent
on teaching materials expressed as a percentage of total public current spending on primary
education.

Countries Amount
Rank
#1 Czech Republic: 26
#2 Mali: 15.1
#3 Malaysia: 13.6
#4 Chad: 8.4
#5 Peru: 8.3
#6 Vietnam: 6

SOURCE: UNESCO

According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), the UNDP Human
Development Index (HDI) of Vietnam has raised considerably in the last 10 years, from 0.456
and ranked at position 121 out of 174 to 101 out of 174 due to the achievements of
education and other social sectors. Compared to the economic development index
(GDP/Capita), the HDI has gone up by 19 positions.

Funding for education from the state budget and from other sources is increasing. The state
budget for education increased from 8% in 1990 to 15% in 2000. Many programs and large
projects have mobilized various resources for the development of education, especially
general education.

Adjusted savings: education expenditure > % of GNI (Gross National Income)

DEFINITION: Education expenditure refers to the current operating expenditures in

education, including wages and salaries and excluding capital investments in buildings and
equipment.
 Educational Expenditure in Vietnam

2.9
2.8
2.7
2.6
2.5
2.4
2.3
2.2
2.1
1994199519961997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Year

SOURCE: World Development Indicators database

In addition, the political stability, the achievements in economic development, the

improvement of people’s life in the renovation period created conditions for a favorable
environment for education to develop.