Education in Indochina

I spent the day at home today. It's difficult finding things to do on a Monday as most museums, swimming pools and other public places are closed. As I worked on my tedious university application, I remembered that my grandma had asked me to find out a little about education in Vietnam. I have been doing some research online into education across Indochina.

In Vietnam, schooling follows the Confucian model, with a high emphasis on the role of the teacher, and few opportunities for pupils to participate in classroom debates and discussions. Primary education is compulsory, and 96% of 6-11 year olds were enrolled in 2006, according to figures from a Vietnam General Statistics Office survey, although this figure drops to 61% for ethnic minority children. This could be to do with poverty keeping children out of education, cultural or language barriers within the mainstream system, or the scarcity of schools in rural areas. After primary education, intermediate and secondary education is not compulsory, and there are high drop-out rates at this point. Another problem is underfunding, as only primary education is partly subsidised by the government, covering 50% of tuition costs. There are further teaching and funding issues at Vietnamese universities. Degrees from Vietnamese universities are not universally recognised, adding to the problem of graduate unemployment that already exists in Vietnam.

Nonetheless, 2005 figures from the CIA World Factbook show that literacy rates for over-fifteens in Vietnam are high, at 94%. These drop to 74% and 73% respectively for Cambodia and Laos, both of which also have greater disparity between male and female literacy. Across the three countries, school life expectancy is consistent at 9-10 years. In Cambodia and Laos, education was originally only available to young boys at wats (Buddhist temples), but during the French colonial period, education was expanded and a French model adopted. Between 1975 and 1979, education in Cambodia came under attack with the arrival of the Khmer Rouge regime. Schools were shut down and educated people were particularly targeted. The education system is still flawed, particularly due to low teacher-pupil ratios, a lack of funding and the scarcity of schools in rural areas. Poverty also contributes to the low enrolment rate at secondary level (40%). Similar problems prevail in Laos, where education follows a Laotian curriculum since the Pathet Lao overhauled the education system and aimed for universal primary enrolment, a goal that has not yet been realised.

A hindrance to the education systems in Indochina, particularly in Cambodia and Laos, seems to be the high number of ethnic minority groups with their own languages and no formal education system of their own. Cultural or language barriers exclude these children from mainstream schools, meaning that they miss out on education. Moreover, poor national funding for education means that schools in rural areas are few and far between, and poverty keeps many children, particularly girls, out of education. This is unsurprising in developing countries. But as Vietnam has one of the fastest economic growth rates in Asia, greater interest should be taken in education and more money invested in this crucial area. As it stands, those who are able to will continue to send their children overseas for their education.