Investment in education and training.

Role of education and training:

The scientific and technological revolution is happening strongly in the world. Science has become the direct productive force, while technology has changed very quickly. Human knowledge, scientific and technological potential have become the factor determining every nation’s power and position.

For such poor countries as Vietnam, in general, there’s no choice but the investment in human resource in general, and in education in particular, can quickly help to escape poverty. In other words, developing human resource is the key for Vietnam to do it.

Changes and achievements:

Since the reunification of the country, Vietnam Communist Party and Government have made greate efforts to reform the education system nationwide. In the 1980-1981 school year, for the first time Vietnam applied the 12-year curriculum but did not complete the curriculum and textbooks untill 1992.

Vietnam’s present educational system consists of: preschool education - kindergarten; general school education is divided into two sub levels: primary education (grade 1 to 5) and second education (grade 6 to 12) which contains two sub levels: lower and upper school.

The illiteracy elimination camping has won remarkable achievements. Vietnam is one of the countries with lowest illiteracy rate in the world. The training forms are diversity with full-time, in-service, distance, in order to meet the ever growing requirements by trainees, as well by the social. Moreover, there are more and more Vietnamese students have been sent abroad to study and further study.

Curriculum and teaching method have been improved in order to train students with qualification catching up with the market economy’s requirements. Long-term and short-term colleges has been opened for pupils who graduated high school prepared for the labor market.

In spite of being still limited, the state budget investment in education and training has gained steadily increase in recent years to create considerable advantages of material. Initial positive achievements has recored in maintaining and extending the education network in mountain and desert areas.

Existing problems in Vietnam education system:

School equipments and teaching aids are dated. Today, those of the before 1960’s equipments still occupited 37 percents in universities and colleges. And in junior education system, there’s a more terrible degradation of classroom. Common in localities are the 3th learning shifts and temporary classrooms.

Still being low, the teachers’ qualification of all school level can’t satisfy the demand of current economic development. Due to low salaries, so many teachers have given up their jobs or done a great deal of extra teaching that their prestiges in particular and those of school in general have more and more degraded in the public eyes (cấu trúc so…that).

The unequal/discrimination education quality is also a remarkable issue in Vietnam. Although the socialization of education gave people more education opportunities, it runs the risk of widening the social gap. The problem of “real degree, fake quality” is currently a headache in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s personal education norm is still very low in comparation with those in area and in the world. In future, Vietnam’s education won’t be able to “take off/fly up” without the increase of education norm.

Investment of state budget in education and training can neither meet the needs, nor satisfy/balance the additional assorted levy arising from the increase of learner population (over 1 million a year on average) and an across-the-board price… In the meantime, it’s believed by education experts that the current inappropriate education budget distribution based on population size, to some extent, producing no less negative influence on educational quality.

Solution of this fact?

According to a high ranking officer in Ministry of Education and Training, it’s necessary to increase the financial resources for education and training. In particular, state investment in education will increase 20 percents until 2005.

Vietnam Communist Party and Government try their hardest to make education and training the most priority. It’s necessary to consider education and training as the most important national policy and career of people.

From now to 2005, it’s necessary to finish/complete the illiteracy liquidation nationwide and polularize primary education at right age in almost provinces, preparing for middle education universal in 2010.

In conclusion, it’s necessary to widely socialize education by various ways. To the education budget management policy, the lacking money must be used more effectively.