Resolution 71 opens up opportunities to elevate Vietnam's education

On August 22, General Secretary To Lam signed and issued Resolution 71-NQ/TW of the Politburo on breakthroughs in education and training development.

Affirming the role of private schools

- Madam, the Politburo has just issued Resolution 71-NQ/TW (referred to as Resolution 71) on breakthroughs in education and training development. How do you evaluate the significance of the Resolution to the development of Vietnamese education?

Resolution 71 is an extremely important document, following Resolution 8 of the Central Committee and Conclusion 91 but has been raised to a new level. This is not only an orientation for development and integration but also a breakthrough.

Breakthrough, in my opinion, is first and foremost linked to the need for digital transformation and technological innovation in education. In the context of rapid technological and artificial intelligence development, if we do not create breakthroughs, Vietnamese education will be at risk of falling behind the world . On the contrary, only when we dare to make strong breakthroughs can we make leaps and bounds, shorten the gap and gradually move forward.

As global education continues to move forward, Vietnam needs a breakthrough to achieve the goal set by the General Secretary: to bring our country's education into the top 20 in the world. To do so, Resolution 71 requires us to act decisively, energetically and keep up with global development trends.

6th grade students of To Vinh Dien Secondary School (O Cho Dua, Hanoi) were happy on the first day of receiving their class of 2025.

- During the process of developing the draft Resolution 71, you, representing Nguyen Sieu School, were invited to contribute many opinions. So could you share some of your outstanding contributions to Resolution 71, Madam?

In the process of giving comments on the draft Resolution 71, Nguyen Sieu School focused on a number of key contents, associated with policy pillars, in which the issue of developing private education stood out.

Besides the core role of public education, private educational institutions have also become an important element, contributing to creating innovations and breakthroughs according to new thinking.

In fact, many international programs and advanced models have been applied primarily in private schools thanks to their autonomy and desire for innovation. This is a clear demonstration of the pioneering role of a segment of private schools in the educational reform process.

For private education to develop sustainably, it is necessary to have support mechanisms and policies from the State, especially in terms of land and facilities. In many countries, education has become a “smokeless industry”, making a strong contribution to the socio-economy.

Vietnam is a country that loves to learn, so in addition to the public education system, there is no reason why we cannot build long-standing, prestigious private schools that become national pride and symbols.

The biggest problem facing private schools today is not human resources or management capacity, but rather the problem of infrastructure, especially land. Therefore, we propose two solutions:

One is: there should be a policy to reduce and exempt land tax for private educational institutions.

Second: allow private schools to rent and use surplus public facilities to invest and upgrade into international standard schools.

And Resolution 71 has clearly regulated these issues, opening up a legal corridor to realize these things. If implemented vigorously, this will be a breakthrough to help non-public education develop to its full potential, while contributing to promoting Vietnamese education to move faster on the path of integration.

Strategic decision

Grade 1 students at Dai Mo 3 Primary School (Tay Mo, Hanoi) happily prepare to welcome the new school year 2025-2026.

- In your opinion, what are the breakthroughs in Resolution 71 for non-public education? How will those breakthroughs impact the development of Vietnam's non-public education system?

Resolution 71 has truly opened up many opportunities and favorable support for non-public educational institutions. This is the first time that a resolution of the Politburo has dedicated specific regulations and policies to the private education sector. In particular, in Article 6, the Resolution clearly affirmed: “Non-public education is an important component of the national education system . This is a historic change.

The next breakthrough is to open up a corridor to develop new training models, with suitable infrastructure and operating conditions. Thanks to that, non-public schools will have more opportunities to invest, innovate, and deploy many advanced educational models, meeting the diverse learning needs of society.

I believe that, with the foundation created by Resolution 71, Vietnam's non-public education system will have the conditions to develop more strongly, both parallel and complementary to public education, contributing to the formation of a more comprehensive, diverse and competitive education system in the context of international integration.

Teachers and students of Nguyen Sieu School at the ceremony celebrating the 80th anniversary of National Day and the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Ministry of National Education, now the Ministry of Education and Training.

- As the Principal of a private school with a tradition of nearly 35 years of development, with the experience of Nguyen Sieu School, in your opinion, in order for non-public educational institutions to develop in the right direction as set out in Resolution 71, what key solutions need to be focused on?

In my opinion, a strict quality management system is needed for private schools. This helps to avoid spontaneous development, leading to a chaotic private education picture, “tiled houses are the same as thatched houses”. At the same time, there needs to be a clear classification and definition of types of private schools, so that students and parents can eliminate the long-standing prejudice that “public education is better than private education”, or “if you fail public school, you will study at private school”.

Specifically, it is necessary to clearly distinguish the investment model: a school established by an individual, developed by a domestic organization, or managed by a foreign investment fund - because each type will have different characteristics and orientations. In addition, there should also be transparent regulations to classify private schools: High-quality Vietnamese schools that teach only an international program; Bilingual schools; and completely international schools.

Having clear definitions and criteria will help form a unified naming system, help parents understand correctly, make the right choice, and at the same time create a more transparent picture of non-public education.

Finally, I think it is necessary to develop criteria for ranking non-public schools. When there is an objective evaluation system, society will have a correct view, parents will trust more, and importantly, gradually eliminate the prejudice that "private schools are a secondary choice". This is also the way for non-public education to affirm its position and develop sustainably.

Take advantage of opportunities to grow

Students of Nguyen Sieu Secondary and High School happily welcome the A80 ceremony.

-In recent times, the Party and the State have had many policies that are considered “unprecedented” for education, such as free tuition for all high school students at all levels, free 2-session teaching/day for primary and secondary schools with a comprehensive education orientation, building inter-level boarding schools for border areas... and most recently Resolution 71. In your opinion, what should the education sector do to take advantage of this opportunity?

All developed countries consider education as a top priority. Changing education means changing from the root - to form citizens of the new century, with the capacity to integrate and compete globally. On the contrary, if education does not change, we will not be able to have the desired generation of global citizens. I think there are 3 issues that we can change:

First, change needs to start from preschool level. We can introduce bilingual education from age 3, forming a foundation for early integration.

Second, change the perception of parents about education.

Third, there needs to be more attractive policies to attract talents to join the teaching profession, because to innovate education, first of all, there must be good teachers. In reality, the number of good students choosing the teaching profession is still low, so there must be policies that are strong enough to encourage them.

In addition, there needs to be a more flexible mechanism for degrees and certificates. In many countries, good experts only need to have an international teaching certificate to be able to teach. Vietnam should also expand the mechanism, allowing those with international teaching certificates to practice in Vietnam, instead of requiring them to graduate from a domestic teaching degree.

This will help us attract more talents, especially Vietnamese students studying abroad, to return to contribute to the homeland. From there, we will take advantage of the historic opportunity that the Party and State are creating for the education sector, turning superior policies into real motivation to improve Vietnam's education.

- Thank you very much for the interview!

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/nghi-quyet-71-mo-ra-co-hoi-nang-tam-nen-giao-duc-viet-nam-post746699.html