Education - A breakthrough national policy for development

During his lifetime, the Vietnamese "teacher of all time" Chu Van An said: "I have never heard of any country that took education lightly and yet became prosperous." His famous saying shows a far-sighted vision of the important role of education in the prosperity of a country; affirming that education is a fundamental factor for development.

From the saying of educator Chu Van An, surveying and comparing developed countries in the world shows that these countries have all "become better" because they do not "take education lightly".

In Europe, Germany in the mid-late 19th century was considered the golden age for the development of education and science and technology. German education played an important role in promoting development, making the country's education system one of the best in the world at that time. The focus on education improved human capacity, created breakthroughs in scientific and technical research, and formed national consciousness, contributing to the unification of Germany.

Or in Asia, in the mid-late 19th century Japan was a moderately developed country, but the Meiji Restoration (from 1868) marked an important turning point. Meiji Restoration Japan is famous for its extensive reforms in many fields, especially education. Meiji reforms included building schools from elementary to university level, focusing on science and technology, compiling unified textbooks and sending outstanding young people to study abroad... Those changes in education were a solid foundation for Japan's miraculous and remarkable development in the 20th century and up to the present day.

Illustration: Thanh Huong

With a thousand-year-old culture and tradition of loving learning and respecting teachers, Vietnamese people - the Vietnamese nation always attach importance to learning. There are folk sayings: "If you want to cross the border, build a bridge/If you want your children to be well-educated, love their teachers"; "One word is a teacher, half a word is also a teacher"; "Without a teacher, you will never succeed"... Scholar Le Quy Don wrote: "Without knowledge, there is no prosperity"! Those statements, whether from the common people or the intellectuals, in the end, all promote learning and value education.

Promoting the human factor and training a class of intellectuals to build the country has been a concern of the Party, Uncle Ho and the Government since Vietnam was first established. After the success of the August Revolution, in the first meeting of the provisional government on September 3, 1945, one of the urgent issues pointed out by Uncle Ho was to "eradicate illiteracy", a consequence of the "ignorant" policy of French colonialism. He said: "An ignorant nation is a weak nation" - a weak nation will not be able to maintain independence, cannot build a rich and strong country and cannot stand shoulder to shoulder with the world powers. With the same spirit, in “Letter to students on the first school opening day of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam” (September 15, 1945), President Ho Chi Minh wrote: “Whether Vietnam becomes beautiful or not, whether the Vietnamese people can step up to the stage of glory to stand shoulder to shoulder with the great powers of the five continents or not, depends largely on your studies.”

Consistent with the viewpoint that "education development is the top national policy" and "investment in education is investment in development"; in recent times, the education and training sector has received due attention from the Party and the State and has had innovative policies and guidelines, creating premises, momentum and strength for the country's development.

Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW dated November 4, 2013 of the Party Central Committee (11th tenure) on fundamental and comprehensive innovation of education and training to meet the requirements of industrialization and modernization in the context of a socialist-oriented market economy and international integration. And recently, Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW dated August 22, 2025 of the Politburo (13th tenure) on breakthroughs in education and training development are vivid evidence showing that, in the process of national development, our Party and State always consider education and training, along with science and technology, as the top national policy. Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW has determined the Party's guiding viewpoint on education and training: "Deeply and fully understand and consistently implement the viewpoint that education and training is the top national policy, deciding the future of the nation... Breakthroughs in education and training development must start from innovation in thinking, awareness and institutions. Create breakthroughs in resources, motivation and new space for education and training development, improve quality...".

Education is the top national policy, making breakthroughs in education and training development… is for the sustainable development of the country. That viewpoint is not only a political determination but also a command to act for a rich and powerful Vietnam.

Education has gone from being identified as a “national policy” for development to a “breakthrough” for development… it is a dialectical journey from awareness to action to achieve the ultimate goal of sustainable development, for a rich, prosperous and happy Vietnam. That future is so bright and proud!

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/xa-hoi/202511/giao-duc-quoc-sach-dot-pha-de-phat-trien-6c415a6/