According to Professor Le Anh Vinh, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, Vietnam's education system must resist the urge to simply chase trends or speed of development. Instead, it must return to addressing fundamental human questions if it hopes to thrive in the new era.

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Professor Le Anh Vinh, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, speaking at the conference

On December 5, the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, in collaboration with UNICEF Vietnam and the British Council, hosted the 2025 National Education Science Conference themed “Education in the Era of National Transformation.” 

Speaking at the conference, professor Vinh emphasized that the question of what education must do in the new era cannot be a mere slogan. It must start with a core philosophical inquiry: how to build enduring foundations for the Vietnamese people.

He also stressed the importance of a systemic approach that places human beings at the center. No matter how optimized a system may be, Vinh argued, it is meaningless if it does not serve the development of each individual student or empower teachers to be creative.

As Vietnam implements a two-tier local government model, removing district-level departments of education, responsibilities are being redistributed. This change increases the pressure and expectations placed on schools and teachers.

According to Vinh, educational development must not merely aim to overcome challenges, but rather use those very challenges as catalysts for acceleration and innovation in a new context.

From control to development-driven reform

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Dr. Pham Do Nhat Tien (Vietnam Association of Universities and Colleges) speaking at the conference. Photo: Tran Hiep

Dr. Pham Do Nhat Tien, senior advisor from the Vietnam Association of Universities and Colleges, pointed out that a “red thread” running through Party Central Committee Resolutions 57 to 71 is the paradigm shift from control-oriented governance to development-oriented governance.

“These resolutions promote the idea that we must abandon old norms when building a modern education system. Reform must move beyond tinkering toward true breakthroughs,” said Tien.

He emphasized the need to transition from traditional to flexible governance. Schools, educators, and learners must adopt a flexible management mindset that allows them to continuously adapt teaching and learning to changing trends.

Key challenges in education governance

However, Dr. Tien also identified several major challenges that must be addressed:

First, there is the inertia and conservatism in the system. Educators and administrators - both at system-wide and school levels - often hesitate to embrace flexible governance, preferring familiar traditional models which feel easier, more stable, and less demanding.

Second, reform requires additional resources, which are not always available. These include costs for upskilling teachers, hiring new talent, and allocating the time necessary for meaningful change - all of which are hard to secure.

Third, flexible governance must be grounded in digital infrastructure. Tien highlighted three pillars: robust infrastructure, integrated and accessible data, and teachers with the digital skills to fully leverage technology. These remain significant challenges in Vietnam.

A future-ready curriculum must be adaptive

Tien also criticized current curriculum design, saying it is not yet ready for the future. The dominant approach still treats the curriculum as a fixed product rather than a dynamic framework that should evolve continuously.

He pointed out that current design processes follow rigid, pre-set paths, often with predetermined goals. In contrast, modern curriculum development should be a nonlinear, iterative process, allowing for goal adjustment based on real-world changes.

Tien argued that curricula must embrace change, not avoid it - and even view it as a competitive advantage.

He recommended that the Ministry of Education and Training create pathways for schools and educators to embrace flexible governance thinking and actively engage in curriculum development at all levels.

“Today, if we design and implement curricula using rigid processes, we will fail to respond to change - and that would betray the spirit of Resolution 71,” Tien concluded.

Thanh Hung