ABSTRACT
Vietnam has made commendable achievements in primary and lower secondary school enrollments and grade progression and in imparting literacy and basic skills to the majority of the population, and in this sense the educational development glass is half full. But to move through to middle income requires human capital resources well beyond basic literacy, and to do so in a broad-based, equitable way requires still greater commitment. In spite of achievements in lower grades, progress toward the goal of universal 12-year education appears to have slowed; for many children, completing secondary school remains a goal too far. In this respect the glass is half- empty: Vietnam’s combination of economic conditions and educational resources does not yet comprise a solid base for sustained, equitable growth. Our review highlights several issues, such as the high dropout rate at the end of lower secondary school and the slowing down of educational progress since 2004. We argue that these issues are not exclusively due to lack of access to schools and teachers, though these are important problems. Macro-level factors such as globalization and distortions in capital and labor markets exert strong effects on the demand for education, through their influences on the returns to schooling and the skill composition of labor demand growth. To address these issues, policy makers need to consider broader economic policies and conditions governing macro-level conditions in capital markets, trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), and industrial structure, in addition to reforming education policies.
