per cent in 2010 (Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, 2012). In 2012,
Viet Nam’s gross national income (GNI) per capita was 1,400 USD (World Bank,
2013), and Viet Nam was recently ranked among the ‘lower middle income’
countries.
Viet Nam has made remarkable progress in improving access to basic
education, achieving a net primary enrollment rate of 96 per cent in 2009.
While there is widespread access to education, there remains, however, a
need for improvements in the quality of education. The country faces a
number of challenges in securing quality education, particularly with regard
to the conditions for quality, including infrastructure, resources, management,
teacher supply and, especially, effective pedagogy, through which educational
quality is most directly mediated (Ministry of Education and Training [MOET ],
Japan International Cooperation Agency [JICA] and PADECO, 2004; Central
Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, 2013). In a step towards
addressing these challenges, the government increased public expenditure
on education from less than 3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in
2000 to 6.3 per cent of GDP in 2010 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2012).
With the aim of achieving good quality education for all, pedagogy reform was
recently put at the top of the agenda in the country’s education development
policies and strategies. Notably, it was emphasized in Resolution No.29-NQ/
TW of the Communist Party (Central Committee of the Communist Party of
Vietnam, 2013).
Legal framework for education reform in Viet Nam
Efforts to improve teaching methods began in Viet Nam schools in the
1990s, along with curriculum and textbook reforms, in accordance with the
resolutions of the Central Party. Central Steering Committee resolutions have
called for a shift from teacher-knowledge indoctrination to guidance on
proactive thinking, thus encouraging the development of individual capacities
and ‘promoting student autonomy in their learning process’ (Resolution No.2-
NQ/TW Central Steering Committee, 24 December 1996, p. 14; Resolution
No.29-NQ/TW Central Steering Committee, 4 November 2013, p. 4).
The conclusions of the 6th Conference of the IX Central Party Executive
Committee (2001) reinforced the notion that it was essential to review the
curriculum, content and education methods of the nation so as to produce
the highest-quality human resources for the country’s development. This was
manifest in the strategic objectives for the country’s educational development.