An Overview of Access to and Inequality in the Education System of Viet Nam

This paper studies trends in education in Viet Nam in the 2000s. It focuses on access to education, inequality in the education system and education financing and provides an assessment of the effectiveness of educational activities supported by public spending. The first part of the study presents an overview of the education system in Viet Nam and the reform process of the public provision of education services. The next section focuses on access and inequality in education in Viet Nam, analysing disparities among different population groups and between urban and rural population groups, women and men, ethnic minorities and the ethnic majority and poor and non-poor households. The following section covers the issue of education financing in Viet Nam. The study assesses the trend in family contributions to children’s education over time and whether education is a burden on the poor. A model to assess the determinant to lower-secondary, upper-secondary and tertiary enrolments was applied in order to find the factors influencing enrolments. Finally, in the conclusion, we summarize our findings and propose some policy implications for further reforming the country’s education system with a view to enhancing accessibility and making it more equitable.