Viet Nam National Education Forum

In recognition of the importance and vitality of an inclusive and quality-based education system for sustainable development, the MOET has carried out the ESA on general education from 2011-2015. The ESA contributes to the assessment of the EDSP for the period of 2011-2020, providing recommendations for better alignment to the Education Sector's needs to 2020.

The forum welcomed the participation of over 150 participants including provincial education officials, representatives of international organizations and educational institutions, experts and development partners. Together, the stakeholders discussed the main findings of the ESA as well as the implications for adjustments of the objectives in the EDSP in order to achieve the national targets of the EDSP and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, namely SDG 4.

Presenting findings of Viet Nam's ESA, Associate Professor from the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, Tran Thi Thai Ha, provided evidence and analysis supporting the following three main recommendations for the Education Sector for 2016-2020:

1. The continuation of high priority for disadvantaged groups and areas through restructuring public investment in education, together with the encouragement of private sector involvement in delivering education services, and through reinforcing the existing policies and initiatives or promulgating new policies to ensure inclusive and gender equality education development;
2. The renovation of General Education with a focus on the competency-based teaching and learning, improvement of teachers' and education managers' education capacity, and the promotion of IT application in teaching and learning; and
3. The improvement of education management, renovating educational planning, budgeting and monitoring and evaluation, improving the legal framework to increase the autonomy of education management and service delivery, and strengthening the coordination between sectors and administrative levels to improve policies and mechanisms related to education development.

Vice Minister of Education and Training, H.E. Nguyen Thi Nghia, acknowledged the positive changes made "in the direction of standardization, modernization, democratization and international integration" of Viet Nam's general education. She further added that "the results of the Education Sector Analysis are particularly significant in the context of programme innovation and general education textbooks being implemented in the recent past."

Similarly, the Head of the UNESCO Ha Noi Office and Representative to Viet Nam, Michael Croft, underscored the importance of the ESA as it guides "better result-based targets and strategic solutions to shape the alignment of the EDSP's second phase to ensure it remains closely aligned to the evolution of the national development context and renovations in education and training." Mr Croft emphasized that in this respect, "we are gathered here together united both in our common understanding that education holds the key to sustainable development and in our commitment to support the implementation of the second phase of the EDSP."

Based on the feedback and input provided by participants through in-depth discussions and recommendations, the ESA report will be further developed to reflect key priority issues and solutions. It is also expected that the Midterm Review of the EDSP will be completed soon and shared among education officials for further action.

For more information, please contact

• Mr Toshiyuki Matsumoto, Education Programme Specialist, at t.matsumoto(at)unesco.org