Country Report

It is an honor for me to be here and I am very pleased to be able to contribute a voice from Vietnam to this conference. I would like to present the following speech entitled:

A PETITION FOR A NEW EDUCATIONAL POLICY
AND ADMINISTRATION IN VIET NAM

Today, education is often mentioned in the media and educational issues are discussed as a priority for many nations, thus proving to be a concern of all peoples. But in order to develop education in a most effective way, there are many things that need to be done. As a young person of VN, I believe that the most important thing is to improve educational policy and administration, and it is these issues that I would like to present to you today.

VN has 75 million people with approximately 22 million in education - students, teachers, administrators and officials, as well as their parents and grandparents who take a great interest in their children's studies. Throughout history, VN has had a strong tradition of learning and respect for education and we are very proud of this. In the Vietnamese mind the value of knowledge is the most noble. These traditional values, together with the tendency for further study have been heightened by a Regional focus on educational development.

However, the reality of changeable conditions and different opportunities available to students does not always provide for the same amount of access to education for all. Students in the city areas tend to have greater opportunities to study than those in rural areas due to their economic status and access to educational facilities. It is also more difficult to encourage good teaching staff to move away from the city areas to remote, rural communities. Despite their commitment to learning, students in rural areas may often be disadvantaged by this reality.

In recent years, investment in the VN education sector has been limited by the economic crisis in the Region. This has affected the development of educational facilities and resources.

-	Firstly, there is the problem of facilities. With the number of students ever growing, the number of classrooms, laboratories and libraries is not enough to meet this demand. They are also in great need of being upgraded with new teaching resources such as books, computers and scientific equipment. According to national leaders, education specialists and students, this is a major issue.
-	Secondly, the school fee structure. School fees are collected monthly and this difficult for many families to manage. As well as these monthly fees, are the costs of books, uniforms and transportation, making the decision to keep young people at school especially difficult for families with a low-income.
-	Thirdly, in the student's view, we feel that there is too much emphasis placed on the theoretical study. The majority of student's time is consumed with studying, with little time left for recreation, creative activiy or reflection on the developments occurring in society.

Nevertheless, despite these limitations, the educational foundation of VN remains extremely strong, making numerous contributions to society. Achievement is high and there is much expectation within VN for students to achieve in national and international exams. VN continues to excel in the international arena. Most recently gaining a first place in Physics among the ASEAN nations at the 11th International Olympic Exams held in Turkey, a third place in Mathematics, and was ahead of 65 other countries in Information.

Despite such impressive achievements, Vietnamese students must continue to excel to be able to keep up with the many changes occurring in the modern world. This is where educational policy and the administration are needed, to assist students and schools to overcome difficulties, and to help us to reach our potential - for our own sake and for that of Vietnam.

VN's economy is now recovering and much progress is being made. The Vietnamese Government and the people of VN are now able to concentrate their efforts towards the development of education - towards improving conditions and rewarding the efforts of hard-working students. Students are encouraged that in the gaining of knowledge, they are "Learning today so that they can contribute tomorrow".

To realize my ideal form of education, some suggestions for the positive development of VN's educational policy and administration include:

COMMENT ON YOUR SCHOOL
AND WHAT YOU SEE IN 5-10 YEARS TIME ...

In summary, the commitment of the Vietnam Government and the willingness of the Vietnamese people to succeed, will ensure the glorious development of Education in Vietnam. Vietnam looks forward to a future where we work alongside more developed nations and the solidarity and mutual assistance among ASEAN countries will help to make this a reality.

Thank you.

Tran Long Nhut
HCMC, March 2000

Good morning! I would like to introduce myself. My name is Le Hong Hoa. I am studying 12th grade at Le Qui Don School. I am living in Hochimin City, Vietnam.

Firstly, I want to show my respect to the Organizers, the guests and all the representatives from participating countries!

I also want to greet the other foreign students, my dear friends!

I wish to express my excitement now when I am standing in front of more than 200 listeners to discuss such an important topic that we all most pay attention to : the education in the future. This is really a world-wide topic which consists of many branches, but areas that are of particular concern to me are the ideal textbooks for students and the ideal teachers of modern education.

Did you know that my country Vietnam is making many advances towards modernization? We - the new generation are inheriting our predecessors tradition and we shoulder the duty to help make our country to become more prosperous. To complete this task, we must be educated and trained to become people of strength, ability and good character. So the education system is a very important factor for the new generation.

Do you agree with me that an ideal education requires ideal text books. In Vietnam, our textbooks have many good points :

They are designed logically with much opportunity for review and practice so that stuents can easily understand their lessons to enable them to consolidate previous knowledge.

They are interesting with many pictures to illustrate practical situation.

There are great variety of Vietnamese textbooks in content. With all the subjects such as Maths, Literature, Philosophy and so on, we use fiction books as well as reference books. This method helps us to be able to study at home by ourselves.

However, as a post-war country which is the 13th most populated nation in the world, Vietnam has had many difficulties in obtaining the finance to improve textbooks for teaching and studying to meet the growing demand. In Vietnam, there is limited access to information to up date th content in fiction books. Also, there are difficulties in distributing books to distant and mountainous areas. Consequently, to improve the education for my country and also for the general education, I believe it is necessary to focus on the following factors :

Thirdly, textbooks must express cultural patterns of each nation, I mean that, they must be concerned about the traditional contents and private custom of each country. For the countries having many different peoples as Vietnam, it is necessary to have bilingual languages textbooks to maintain and develope the language and culture of ethnic minorites while aiding them in managing change that comes with modern civilization while assisting them with skills to help them understand each other better.

Fourthly, textbooks must be regularly up dated to help students understand the knowledg around them and acquire the scientific and technological progress of advanced countries. For Vietnamese students, relevant knowledge is a golden key to join in to the ASEAN region. In the future, Vietnamese university students can study in other ASEAN countries successfully.

Fifthly, textbooks must pay attention to human culture contents. It means that they must exress solidarity, peace, friendship among all nations for the sake of human beings. They must link modern science and national tradition and aim to educate all classes in society. They must also train students in morality and ability and to being concerned about "family factors" because it is said that "Every family is a cell of the society".

Yes, these are what I dream about for an ideal education in the future. But these are only things, how can we make such a vision happen? We need someone to explain and provide us with the knowledge to grow. Can you guess who I am talking about? Yes, you are right. it is our teachers.

Teaching is one of the most elevated careers, therefore teachers are very honoured. A Vietnamese idiom says that : "You ca not succeed without a teacher". So teachers are vital to education. In Vietnam, many teachers have reached very high professional level. More than 30% of teachers have graduated from university, of those people, 3/4 are either professors or doctors. Many Vietnamese teachers have pedagogical ability and especially are dedicated to their career. The Vietnamese government often holds competition such as "The Golden Chalk", which is to encourage teachers' ability. However, there are still some difficulties for teacher. Let me illustrate with a samll mathematical exercise to clearify this : Vietnamese has more than 1 millions high school students but there are only about 55 thousands high school teachers, resulting in a serious imbalance between teachers and students. In Vietnamese classroom there are often more than 50 students a class, even reach to 70. Can you imagine that? Is it so crowded" So how can the teacher be sure that all the students understand his lesson? This is a problem. Another issue is that of teachers' salary. They are playing an important role in the development of the country, yet for most of them are poor. Teachers are generally lead to humble lives with very limited material possession. It's necessary to improve the material life of teachers.

My friends! If textbooks are they way to reach the best knowledge, teachers are really the leaders guiding students on that way. The better the leaders, the higher the knowledge that students can reach. The better the leaders, the higher the knowledge that students can reach. The better the teacher, the more perfect the education. Therefore, to improve the quality of teaching there are some things that can be done :

These are things that government must pay atention to. As students, what do we expect from our teachers? I believe we want mutual respect. We want our teacher to be our advisors and relate to us as young persons (Are you OK?)

Lastly I want to say that we are entering a new millenium, a new century with many many dreams of a perfect education, an ideal teacher and ideal textbooks. We have the right to dream and believe that our dreams can come true. Let's dream for our education. With sincerity, I give thanks for the encouragement and help of SEAMEO, especially thank to the host country Thailand and to all the people who have come together with the purpose of improving our education for our region.

I look forward to speaking with many of you here today and help to make this conference a full success.

Thank you.

	1.	Introduction - name, school year etc.
	2.	Thank you's - to host country, SEAMEO Organization, SEAMEO Regional Training Centre, Vietnam (Mr. Minh), to the host family, teacher(s) and parents.

	-	High qualified, devoted teachers
	-	Spacious libraries with various kinds of books and texts
	-	An adequate number of classrooms
	-	Specialist labs and study areas for practice and self-learning
	-	Up-to-date computer facilities and technical assistance made available to assist students in their learning
	-	Expansion of recreational facilities and training opportunities for a variety of sports and leisure activities
	-	Subsidies for students from low-income families

-	Firstly, teachers need to help from the government to raise their professional knowledge by visiting schools in other ASIAN nations to acquire teaching experience.
-	Secondly, they need to be equipped with adequate teaching means such as books, teaching instruments...
-	Thirdly, the quantity of teachers in the city and in the country must be equally distributed so that all students can "absorb" the same teaching.
-	Fourthly,teachers must be respected and well-treated with good condition so that they can develope their professional ability

	-	Allow for the development of each school's identity and reputation within the community
	-	Allow for independent financial management of schools, thus lessening the burden on the Government and making schools more responsible for their actions.
	-	Increase opportunities for students to meet and exchange ideas, at the national and regional level, to encourage solidarity among ASEAN people and foster the next generation of leaders.

	-	Combine opportunities for practical application and theoretical learning. Provide students with opportunities for scientific experiments, facilitate drama and music productions and encourage social activity
	-	Encourage students to take on the role of teacher - in giving presentations within class, allowing for student peers to comment and discuss, while under the supervision of a qualified teacher.