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Growth of semi-private schools risks widening social gap — By Faith Keenan in Hanoi and Ho Chi Mink City
Vietnam’s leaders are facing a dilemma as they seek ways to educate a V population growing at about 1.5 million a year to meet the demands of a developing economy. Semi-private schools help to ease the pressure on Vietnam’s education system. But it's mainly better-off Vietnamese who can afford to send their children to them. Encouraging the schools to set up risks sharpening class distinctions that are already worrying Communist Party elders.
But the government has no choice. Schools are bursting at the seams: some schools have classes of 60 students when 30 is considered ideal, and 45 the regulated maximum. In some cases, a third shift has been added to the usual morning and afternoon sessions.
Besides the shortage of schools, there's a shortfall of teachers. State newspapers reported that 115,000 more teachers were needed this school year at primary and secondary levels. About one-third of existing teachers don't have the required teaching qualifications.
The government has renewed its calls for private binding for education under the banner “socialization.” “That means that parents have to pay for their children’s education,” explains a specialist in pedagogy at the National Institute of Educational Science. And “people-funded” schools get off the ground.
Don’t call them private, though. Reflecting the government's reluctance to move towards privatization of the economy, such schools are legal entities of the state and their boards are made up largely of public officials, says the deputy director of the Ministry of Education and Training’s secondary-school department. Moreover, all schools still must follow state curriculum and use state-sanctioned books, while students receive a state certificate.
People-funded schools soak up a tiny proportion of the student population, but their numbers are increasing rapidly, according to a World Bank study issued late last year. They account for 24% of students enrolled in secondary schools, while at the primary level, the number of such schools has nearly doubled this year to 44 in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, according to the Ministry of Education. But that’s out of more than 12,000 primary schools nationwide. And although the schools are set up with the idea of paying their own way, some are operating at just half capacity and losing money.
Apart from the semi-private initiatives, organizations like the Youth League in Ho Chi Minh City are doing what they can to ease overcrowding in schools. They’ve launched a lottery, hoping to raise 70 billion dong to build 1,000 classrooms by 2005.
Despite such efforts, educating Vietnam’s youth will be an uphill struggle for years to come. Although the country reports a 91% literacy rate, a United Nations study says that literacy in Vietnam has often been measured only by a person’s ability to read a simple passage or sign his or her name. (The international standard is a third-grade education—about that of an 8-year-old.)
Indeed, school enrollment starts to decline steadily after the fifth grade— around age 10. By grade 12 (age 18), less than 20% of the school-age population is actually in school. The World Bank says that private costs such as the assorted fees schools levy in addition to tuition—even for families with children at state schools—contribute to high drop-out rates at the primary level.
Confronted with such figures, investors aiming to tap Vietnam’s vaunted low- cost labour pool may think twice. Many companies require a college education even for secretarial positions, let alone managerial jobs. The Saigon Times Daily recently quoted an official at the Ministry of Planning and Investment who complained that only a fraction of the 5,000 Vietnamese managers working for joint ventures are qualified.
The government is doing what it can to help. The Communist Party’s Central Committee pledged to make education and training a priority at a December meeting. The government aims to increase the share of the budget for education to 20% from 15%.
The national teacher-training college has waived tuition fees this year to try to lure more people to the profession. A proposal to increase teachers’ salaries by 50% has been approved, says an official of the Education Ministry. (They currently average about $35 a month at the secondary level.)