From "Popular Education" to "Digital Popular Education"

In 1938, France recorded that 95% of the Vietnamese population did not know any writing. Just a few days after the success of the August Revolution in 1945. At the first meeting of the Provisional Government, on September 3, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh proposed 6 urgent tasks to be solved. Of which, the task of fighting illiteracy was ranked second, after the task of fighting famine. A few days later, on September 8, 1945, the Government issued a decree to establish the Popular Education Department. Learning the National Language was compulsory and free for everyone.

In the following years, “i, to” classes sprung up everywhere. Literate people became unpaid teachers, and people went to school to be able to write their names. The inspiring verses were widely spread: “Uncle Ho called for emulation to eradicate illiteracy/ We all went to the popular classes/ We competed to study diligently/ On election day, we wrote down the two words “benefactor”: Uncle Ho!”, “Even though my eyes are dim at an old age/ I still hold my heart and wait for Uncle Ho to come/ Every night I recite the i, to/ I pray that I can write the words “Ho Chi Minh”/ I will definitely vote/ The love between the North and the South will be engraved in my heart…”. Only 1 year after the establishment of the Popular Education Department, 75,000 classes were opened, gathering more than 95,000 teachers.

After 20 years, the whole country has basically eliminated illiteracy - a consequence of the French colonialists' policy of keeping people ignorant. The achievement of eliminating illiteracy is the first and most fundamental foundation for the Vietnamese revolution to rise to new heights, winning one victory after another, liberating the nation, unifying the country, and achieving great achievements after 40 years of national renovation.

Provincial Youth Union launches "Digital Education for All" team

The “Popular Education” movement has completed its historical mission, ending the days of searching for letters of the Vietnamese people. But learning is forever, never ending. Resolution 57-NQ/TW, dated December 22, 2024 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation shows that it is necessary to take advantage of digital technology as a powerful means of supporting self-study and lifelong learning. In the context of current digital transformation, learning on a digital platform is an inevitable requirement. Digital technology will help spread knowledge, creating favorable conditions for each person to self-study and develop themselves.

During this period, General Secretary To Lam requested a number of tasks to be done immediately, including launching the "Digital Literacy for All" movement. In reality, a large proportion of people (including officials in state agencies) do not have a firm grasp of digital transformation. The need to quickly disseminate basic knowledge about digital transformation to all people is urgent. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also affirmed: "The country is facing a historic opportunity to enter a new era, developing strongly with the main driving force coming from science , technology, innovation and digital transformation. We must carry out a particularly important and urgent task, which is to disseminate knowledge, technology about digital transformation, digital skills to all people, that is, "eliminating ignorance" about digital transformation".

During Youth Month 2025, the Provincial Youth Union launched the “Digital Literacy for All” movement. Youth union branches in the province established a “Digital Literacy for All” team. Members are Union and Association officials, union members, association members, and young people with good knowledge of technology; capable of organizing activities to raise awareness and essential digital skills for people (focusing on the elderly and people with little exposure to technology).

This team is responsible for guiding people and households to participate in reputable e-commerce platforms of domestic enterprises; sales skills through e-commerce platforms; cashless electronic payment skills, other digital applications serving production and business; guiding online public services, interacting with the government via digital platforms. With small steps, the province's youth hope to contribute to the province's big steps in forming a community that adapts to digital transformation; participating in building a digital government, digital society, digital economy, and digital citizens.

On May 19, An Giang province launched the "Digital Education for All" movement in conjunction with the launch of the "Lifelong Learning" application. This is an opening activity, creating a vibrant competitive atmosphere, making "Digital Education for All" a regular, continuous, and widespread movement; becoming a breakthrough in raising awareness and digital skills, especially for those in remote areas or those who do not have access to technology. Many organizations, individuals and people are mobilized to actively participate in the movement, aiming to popularize knowledge about artificial intelligence to all classes of people.

The “Digital Popularization” movement is inspired and inherited, promoted from the “Popularization” movement, as General Secretary To Lam said: “This is not only an educational initiative, the “Digital Popularization” movement is also a bridge between the past and the future. By promoting historical lessons, striving to build a society that is not only rich in knowledge but also rich in technological power, ready to integrate and develop”, “Knowledge is the key, technology is the door to open a brighter future. To spread the “Digital Popularization” movement, not only policies and support from the Government and social organizations are needed, but above all, the people are the main subjects, need to proactively learn, be ready to share, apply digital knowledge, and together build a progressive society in the new era”.

GIA KHANH

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/tu-binh-dan-hoc-vu-den-binh-dan-hoc-vu-so--a420952.html