Asia and the Pacific Education for All (EFA) mid-decade assessment ...

Policy for support of ethnic and other disadvantaged groups includes construction of permanent
schools (“concretization”, i.e., build with concrete instead of bamboo) and con solid ation of small
schools. Free textbooks and learning materials are provided for poor children, including ethnic
minorities. Efforts are made to ensure appropriate conditions of living and professional activities
of teachers who work in remote, ethnic, and mountainous areas. Six ODA loan projects funded by
the World Bank and donor agencies are targeted on dis advantaged children and youth at primary,
lower secondary, and upper secondary levels.
18.6.2 Progress Achieved in Selected EFA MDA Core Indicators in Viet Nam
a. Assessing Progress Using Times Series Data
The Survival Rate to Grade 5 increased by more than 3 per centage points between 2003/04 and
2004/05. Combined with the increase in NER shown in Table 212, page 204 above, this shows a
very significant increase in the proportion of each age cohort surviving to Grade 5 and a rapid
approach to universal primary education.
Survival rates to Grade 9, the final grade in lower secondary school, are shown in Table 217, page
207. Over the period 2002/03 to 2005/06, the survival rate has increased gradually by more than 5
percentage points. The increased survival rate is a result of declines in the repetition and drop-out
rates. In addition, the number of drop-outs who came back to school also rose.
Teachers. In recent years, local efforts have been made on the implementation of “primary teacher
standardisation” policy, which is an important measure to improve the quality of primary education.
In 2001/02, only 88% of teachers had standard or higher levels of qualifications. This number
increased in the following years to 96% by 2005/06. The proportion of teachers with standard or
higher qual i fi ca tions has significantly improved, especially in disadvantaged areas, as seen in Table
223, page 211.
225
At the lower secondary level, only 91% of lower secondary school teach ers in the whole country
met the standard academic qual ifications, but over the half-decade to 2005/06 this pro por tion
rose by more than 5 per centage points to over 96%, as seen in Table 223. In the provinces with the
lowest proportion of aca dem ic ally qualified lower secondary school teachers (North East, North
Central, and Mekong River Delta Regions), the pro portion of teachers with the required academic
qual i fi ca tions rose from under 88% to over 94%. The regional variation declined signifi cantly over
the period.
The pupil/teacher ratio for primary school fell from 26.3 in 2001/02 to 20.7 in 2005/06, and for
lower secondary level from 25.7 to 21.1.
Table 236: Pupil/Teacher Ratio, Primary and Lower Secondary, 2001/02-2005/06, Viet Nam
2001/02 2005/06
Primary 26.3 20.7
Lower Secondary 25.7 21.1
Source: Information Centre, MOET.
Over the period 2001 to 2006, the Student/ Teacher Ratios at both primary and lower second ary
level have significantly improved as a result of continuous primary teacher training in order to
meet the teacher demand in all regions and to move towards full-day schooling.
Over the period 2001/02 to 2005/06, the mean Student/Class Ratio declined in all regions, at both
primary and lower secondary level, as shown in Table 237. Although all regions showed declining
ratios at both levels, the range between the highest and lowest values however, increased at both
levels.