Việt Nam to step up investment in education with UNESCO support

Audrey said she was there to express that UNESCO will continue to support the country and help face the challenges in the years to come.

UNESCO´s Director-General Audrey Azoulay on Monday visited the Ngô Sĩ Liên Secondary School in Hà Nội, an establishment that is part of the UNESCO Associated Schools Network, to officially launch the school year alongside the Deputy Minister of Education and Training Ngô Thị Minh.

“Việt Nam has based its development model on major investments in education. This is the guarantee of social cohesion and sustainable development," said Director-General Audrey Azoulay.

Audrey said she was there to pay tribute to this commitment and to express that UNESCO will continue to support the country and help face the challenges in the years to come in this field.

Over the past two years, despite the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the teaching and learning process has not been interrupted, and the continuation of education was ensured through distance learning, noted the UNESCO office in Việt Nam.

Deputy Minister Minh expressed her “great pleasure at the visit of Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General, which coincided with the start of the new school year, and at being able to attend the opening ceremony in person rather than online, as Hà Nội and many other cities had to do the previous year.”

Minh stated that “the Government's right decisions and the efforts of the whole education sector enabled Việt Nam's education system to remain strong during the pandemic, turning the problems of the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity to innovate and transform education, particularly in the area of using technology in teaching and learning, and to accelerate digital transformation in education”.

The Vietnamese authorities want to further amplify their efforts, as they explained today to the Director-General of UNESCO when presenting their new Education Development Strategic Plan for 2030, and the national commitment that Việt Nam would present at the Transforming Education Summit.

Việt Nam today announced its commitment to ensuring that education expenditure accounts for at least 20 per cent of total government expenditure.

The country will gradually exempt families from tuition fees in early childhood and lower secondary education. It would also invest in specialised facilities for educational institutions in remote, mountainous and island areas. Moreover, it would increase investments in higher education institutions, research and innovation.

The strategy also includes strengthening the Education Sector’s governance system and the teaching career, developing dynamic and flexible schools that respond to the needs of young people, and promoting technology and digitalisation in education.

“A few days before the Transforming Education Summit planned to be held on September 19 at United Nations Headquarters, these new commitments from Việt Nam are a significant step to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4, that is quality education for all by 2030. I call on all our other Member States to also make bold commitments for education at this unique occasion,” said Audrey Azoulay.