Development Assistance to Enhance Delivery of Education Services in Viet Nam

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Japan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are assisting Viet Nam in improving access to and the quality of secondary education in the country to meet the growing demand brought about by a rapidly expanding economy.

The Japan Special Fund is providing a $600,000 grant for the preparation of the project design for a Secondary Education Sector Development Program. The government of Viet Nam will be extending $170,000 to complete the funding requirement.

The design will include draft government policy reforms and a feasibility study of the investment project approved by ADB and the government of Viet Nam for the secondary education sector.

The Secondary Education Sector Development Program will work toward equal access to good quality secondary education by 2015. The program will draw up a regulatory framework for private secondary education and a new policy framework for financial support for students, including scholarships, student loans and conditional cash transfer programs, which are designed to cover the cost of education of children from poor families.

The development program will also enhance the quality of teaching through the development of standards for secondary education teachers, reforms in the national examination system and textbook production, and the review and revision of the curriculum.

Proposed investments under the development program include the establishment of an independent agency to accredit non-public secondary schools, funding scholarships and student loans, and providing training for more effective textbook production.

Viet Nam's economy has made significant strides, registering an average annual growth rate of 7.5% during the past 15 years. According to the latest household survey data, the poverty rate fell to 19.5% in 2004 from 58.1% in 1993. The significant progress, however, has been mixed and is not as evident across regions and among vulnerable groups including ethnic minorities and women.

Increased public spending in education has significantly expanded schooling as well. The net enrollment rate in school year 2005 reached 97% for primary education, 90.4% for lower secondary education and 63% for upper secondary education. However, the high national net enrollment rate also masks a disparity in access and attainment by ethnicity, gender and household income. As of 2006, only 34 of the 64 provinces in the country had achieved universal lower secondary education. Girls from poor families and especially ethnic minorities are most disadvantaged.

"The government is faced with the critical challenge of delivering social services to the most disadvantaged groups while at the same time improving the quality and effectiveness of service provision," said Eiko Izawa, Education Specialist of ADB's Southeast Asia Department.

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