Promoting Vietnam-Australia educational cooperation in the new phase.

GD&TĐ - On December 11th, at the Ministry of Education and Training, Minister Nguyen Kim Son received and held a working meeting with Mr. Jason Clare, Minister of Education of Australia.

This is the first visit by the Australian Minister of Education to Vietnam in over 20 years.

Accompanying Minister Jason Clare on his visit and working session at the Ministry of Education and Training were Ms. Gillian Bird, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Australia to Vietnam, and officials from the Australian Department of Education.

Extensive cooperation between Australia and Vietnam in education and training.

Welcoming Australian Education Minister Jason Clare, Minister Nguyen Kim Son emphasized that educational cooperation is one of the important pillars in the cooperative relationship between the Australian and Vietnamese governments .

Over the past period, bilateral cooperation has developed favorably, achieving many positive results. The Minister expressed confidence that the visit of Minister Jason Clare and his delegation to Vietnam will further promote educational cooperation between the two countries, making it increasingly in-depth and effective.

Expressing his pleasure at visiting Vietnam, Minister Jason Clare extended his deepest condolences to the people and Government of Vietnam for the heavy losses caused by recent natural disasters.

Minister Jason Clare.

According to Minister Jason Clare, Australia and Vietnam have had a long-standing and effective cooperative relationship in the field of education and training. From 2024, the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership; in which education and training is one of the key areas of cooperation and will continue to be prioritized and promoted in the future.

One testament to this cooperative relationship is that, as of September 2025, there are 33,725 Vietnamese students studying in Australia (ranking 4th in the number of international students in Australia, after China, India, and Nepal), mostly on self-funded or scholarship programs. Vietnam is the second largest market for high school students, with 4,451 students enrolling in 2024. There are also approximately 160,000 Vietnamese alumni of Australian universities…

Minister Nguyen Kim Son.

Understanding that Vietnam has always considered education a crucial driving force for life transformation and national development – ​​a perspective similar to that of Australia – Minister Jason Clare expressed his admiration for Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in education and training development. He believes this Resolution is a major impetus, reflecting the strong expectations of the Vietnamese Party and Government in promoting national transformation through education.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son thanked Minister Jason Clare, Ambassador Gillian Bird, and Australian higher education institutions for their continued interest, support, and facilitation of Vietnamese students' studies in Australia, and also shared some general information about the current state of education and training in Vietnam.

The Minister first mentioned Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW and affirmed that it is a strategic guiding document of the Communist Party of Vietnam in the development of education, which is currently being vigorously implemented throughout the entire sector.

The Minister also stated that on December 10th, the Vietnamese National Assembly voted to pass three important laws in the field of education, including: the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Education; the Law on Vocational Education (amended); and the Law on Higher Education (amended). From January 1st, 2026 - the date these laws come into effect - the entire Vietnamese education and training system will operate on a completely new institutional foundation.

Currently, 100% of provinces and cities in Vietnam maintain and achieve universal primary and lower secondary education standards; the goal is to have 100% of provinces and cities achieve universal preschool education standards for children aged 3 to 5 by 2030.

Representatives from the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and the Australian Ministry of Education were present at the meeting.

Sharing his thoughts on efforts to ensure equity in education, the Minister mentioned policies on tuition fee exemption and support for preschool children, primary and secondary school students, and learners in general education programs within the national education system; and the construction of boarding schools for primary and secondary levels in 248 border communes.

The National Assembly also passed a Resolution on the investment policy for the National Target Program to modernize and improve the quality of education and training for the period 2026-2035. One of the focuses of this investment package is to promote the development of higher education and vocational training institutions. According to the Minister, developing human resources in cutting-edge technology and engineering fields is urgent, so universities and vocational schools need to develop at a faster pace and with better quality.

The Minister further shared that Vietnamese education is being given a challenging task: to make English the second language in schools. In the implementation process, teachers and teaching technology play a particularly important role.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son and Minister Jason Clare witnessed the signing ceremony of the agreement on Project 89 between the Department of International Cooperation (Ministry of Education and Training) and universities in Australia.

Promoting in-depth cooperation

In his exchange with Minister Nguyen Kim Son, Minister Jason Clare emphasized the particularly important role of the education period for children aged 3-8. Australia is also making every effort to ensure 100% of children attend school – a noble goal. Currently, 60% of the young workforce in Australia holds university or vocational degrees; the goal is to raise this rate to 100% by 2050.

With the roadmap to make English a second language in Vietnamese schools, Minister Jason Clare believes this is a great opportunity for both sides to cooperate.

A discussion and exchange of ideas on research collaboration opportunities with Australian universities.

The delegates took a commemorative photo.

Proposing future cooperation, Minister Nguyen Kim Son expressed his desire for more Australian higher education institutions to open branches in Vietnam; for the Australian Department of Education to continue paying more attention to managing Australian universities and vocational schools that collaborate with Vietnamese schools to improve quality; to support Vietnam in training doctoral and master's degree holders for lecturers in higher education institutions under Project 89; and to support the improvement of English language proficiency for Vietnamese teachers to successfully implement the program of making English a second language in schools…

Minister Nguyen Kim Son also showed interest in discussing the activities of RMIT University and the Aus4Skills Program.

During the working session, Minister Nguyen Kim Son and Minister Jason Clare witnessed the signing ceremony of the agreement on Project 89 between the Department of International Cooperation (Ministry of Education and Training) and six Australian universities. On this occasion, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training, the Australian Ministry of Education, and Australian higher education institutions held a seminar to exchange ideas on future research cooperation opportunities.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/thuc-day-hop-tac-giao-duc-viet-nam-australia-trong-giai-doan-moi-post760127.html