VN leads regional education reforms

Illustration photo

The international lender on March 15 reported that East Asia and the Pacific region had seven of the top 10 performing education systems in the world with schools in Viet Nam and China showing significant progress.

According to the “Growing Smarter: Learning and Equitable Development in East Asia and the Pacific” report, the WB reported that a quarter of the world’s school-going children---some 331 million---live in East Asia and the Pacific. About 40% of them attend schools in education systems whose students are ahead of the average students in OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries. These schools are not only in wealthy countries such as Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Japan but also in middle-income countries such as China and Viet Nam. 

In addition, the report emphasized that students’ performance is not necessarily tied to a country’s income level. By age 10, for example, the average Vietnamese student outperforms all but the top students in India, Peru and Ethiopia. 

WB Senior Director for Education, Mr Jaime Saavedra Jaime Saavedra attributed policy efficiency, teacher support, and practical teaching are decisive factors for students’ performance. The Senior Director suggested policy makers attach importance to effective budget allocation and drastic political commitment to improve educational system of a country./.

By Kim Loan