Primary education is the first level of formal and compulsory education in Viet Nam. The public primary schools are free and the official entry age is 6. Pupils attend primary school for 5 years after which they move on to lower secondary (grades 6-9) and upper secondary school (grades 10-12). Primary and secondary education became nearly universal in 2000, which is a remarkable achievement among developing countries with similar levels of per capita income. Despite this impressive achievement, the quality of primary and secondary education needs improvement, especially in regards to school facilities and gender in underprivileged areas (UNESCO 2009).
Access to primary and secondary education has significantly improved in recent years. In 2000, the enrollment rate for 6-11 year olds was 95%, and this figure was almost 100% in 2004. However, there are still significant out-of-school groups, namely children from poor families and remote areas, ethnic minorities, migrant children, and children with disabilities. Particularly, primary enrolment varies widely between different ethnic groups, mainly due to the many different ethnic languages and the lack of institutions providing mother tongue based education. Mother tongue and bilingual instructions are critical for the improvement of access for and achievement of ethnic minority children (UNESCO 2009).
There are quality problems both in primary and secondary levels with remote areas and ethnic groups. In remote areas primary teachers are often less qualified with fewer years of training, and teachers are severely insufficient in numbers despite Government recruitment efforts. In addition, there is a shortage of learning materials, low pupil instruction time and limited physical infrastructure to support student traveling to and from school. Thus, students from minority groups are often faced with physical/material, cultural and linguistic isolation and resulting in unsatisfactory quality of learning. As a contrast to inadequate learning opportunities and achievement in primary education, secondary education is struggling with issues such as gender inequality and high repetition and dropout rates (UNESCO 2009).
The management and financing of education, particularly school buildings, staff and finance allocation have been largely decentralized in Viet Nam. Upper secondary schools are managed at the provincial level by the Departments of Education and Training (DoET). Meanwhile, lower secondary and primary schools are managed locally at the district or commune level by the Bureaus of Education and Training (BoET). In regards to the administration of public financing for education, it is largely administered by the provinces (UNESCO 2009).
According to the Education Law, every child must complete primary school and the government ensures access for all children, including girls and ethnic minorities. The government has also set the target to achieve universal lower secondary education by 2010. The Socioeconomic Development Plan (SEDP) 2006-10 aims to increase the educational attainment of ethnic minorities as well as preserving their cultural values. In addition, several important primary and secondary education development objectives include: to improve educational quality and efficiency, to improve the curriculum and textbooks, to strengthen teaching and learning material methods, to improve the school infrastructure and increase the learning opportunities for children in need (UNESCO 2006, 2009).
