Education in Vietnam is divided into five levels: preschool, primary school, secondary school,

high school and higher education. Formal education consists of twelve years of basic education.
Basic education consists of five years of primary education, four years of intermediate education,
and three years of secondary education. The majority of basic education students are enrolled on
a half-day basis.
The main educational goal in Vietnam is improving peoples general knowledge, training quality
human resources and nurturing and fostering talent With one of the highest GDP growth rates in
Asia, Vietnam is currently trying to overhaul its education system, with a view to prepare students
for the increasing role of English as the language of business, and the importance of
internationalizing the education system to maintain the rapid economic growth of the last two
decades.

Types of educational establishments
Regarding ownership, as prescribed in Article 44 of Vietnams Education Law, there are four types
of educational establishments:
Public education establishments: established and monitored by the State. The State also
nominates their administrators and decides staff quota. The State invests in infrastructure and
allocates funding for their regular spending tasks.
Semi-public educational establishments: set up by the State on the basis of mobilizing
organizations and individuals in the society to jointly invest in infrastructure.
People-founded educational establishments: Social or economic organizations apply for
permission from the State to set up an institution with non-State budget capital.
Private educational establishments: Individuals or groups of individuals apply for permission
from the State to set up and invest in the institution by themselves.
The semi-public, people-founded and private educational establishments are referred collectively
to as non-public educational establishments.School grades
The school year is divided into two semesters. The first semester begins in late August and ends
some time before Tt, while the second one begins right after the first one and lasts until June.
Level/Grade Typical age
Preschool
Pre-school playgroup 3-4
Kindergarten 4-6
Primary school
First grade 6-7
Second grade 7-8
Third grade 8-9
Fourth grade 9-10
Fifth grade 10-11
Secondary school
Sixth grade 1112
Seventh grade 12-13
Eighth grade 1314
Ninth grade 14-15
High school
Tenth grade 1516
Eleventh grade 1617
Twelfth grade 1718
Post-secondary education
Tertiary education (College or University) Ages vary (usually four years)
Academic grading
Main article: Academic grading in Vietnam
Pre-primary education
Public kindergartens usually admit children ranging from 18 months to 5 years of age. Sometimes,
four- or five-year-old children are taught the alphabet and basic arithmetic. This level of education
is not compulsory and tends to be popular in major cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da
Nang, Hai Phong, Can Tho and Vung Tau.

Primary education
Children normally start primary education at the age of six. Education at this level lasts for 5 years
and is compulsory for all children.The country's literacy rate is over 90%.According to the Multiple
Indicators Cluster Survey 2006 of Vietnams General Statistics Office, 96% of six to 11-year-old
children enrolled in primary school. However, there was still a significant disparity in the primary
education completion rate among different ethnicity. While primary completion rate for Kinh
students was 86%, the rate for ethnic minority children was only 61%.
In school year 2009-2010, Vietnam had 15,172 primary schools and 611 combined primary and
lower secondary schools.
The total enrollment was 7.02 million pupils, of whom 46% were girls.
The renovated primary education curriculum in Vietnam is divided into two phases as follows:
Phase 1 includes Grades 1, 2 and 3 with 6 subjects: Vietnamese Language, Mathematics, Morality,
Nature and Society, Arts and Physical Education.
Phase 2 includes Grades 4 and 5 with 9 subjects: Vietnamese Language, Mathematics, Morality,
Science, History, Geography, Basic Techniques, Music, Arts and Physical Education.Intermediate/

Lower secondary education
Lower secondary school (Vietnamese: trung hc c s) or Junior high school includes sixth,
seventh, eighth and ninth grade. Until its abolition in 2006, students had to pass the Intermediate
Graduation Examination (IGE) presented by the local Department of Education and Training to
graduate. This educational level is homogeneous throughout most of the country, except in very
remote provinces, which expect to popularize and standardize middle education within the next
few years. Intermediate education is not compulsory in Vietnam.
The Lower Secondary Educations weekly schedule includes the following subjects and activities:
Vietnamese Language, Mathematics, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, History, Geography, Civics,
Foreign Language, Physical Education, Technology, Art, Music, Optional Subjects, Class
Activities and School Activities, Vocational-oriented activities (3 periods per month in Grade 8 or
in some cases, the summer between 7th and 8th Grade) and Extra-curricular activities (4 periods
per month in all grades).
The Technology subject aims to show the link between theory and practice. It includes three
parts: home economics (in Grade 6), agriculture-forestry and aquaculture (in Grade 7), Industry (in
Grade 8) and optional modules (in Grade 9).
High school education
High school education (Vietnamese: trung hc ph thng) consists of grades ten through twelve.
The IGE is a prerequisite entrance examination for high schooling. The IGE score determines the
schools at which students are able to enroll. The higher the score, the more prestigious the
school.
All subjects are compulsory for students.
Vietnamese literature (and other literatures such as Chinese, Japanese)
Mathematics (consisting of separate subjects Algebra (year 10 only), Calculus (year 11 and 12
only) and Geometry (both year 10, 11 and 12))
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
History
Geography
Civics (generally consists of economics, philosophy, politics, law and ethics)
Foreign language (mostly English; Chinese, French and Russian are taught at some specialized
schools)
Technology (consists of Agriculture/Horticulture, Mechanics, Electronics, Design, etc.)
Information Technology (Recently introduced, yet to be implemented in poorer regions. Students
study basic programming in languages such as Visual FoxPro, Visual Basic and Pascal)
Physical Education
Military and security education
Advanced classes consists of either:
Natural sciences: Students follow an advanced curriculum (and different textbooks) in
mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology.
Social sciences: Students follow an advanced curriculum (and different textbooks) in literature,
history, geography and foreign language.
At the start of secondary school, students can enroll in Specialist Classes if they pass the class
entrance exam, which usually consists of a Mathematics exam, a Literature exam, and an exam of
the subject that the student wants to specialize in. The specialised subject can be any of the
subjects listed above, except Technology, Physical Education and Civics. Students enrolled in
these programs have a heavier workload than regular secondary school students. The workload
varies from school to school, but grade 11 students are generally expected to study grade 12
courses concurrently. Other courses include university-level courses. Some schools go as far as
requiring their students to finish secondary school by the end of grade 10.
Only prestigious schools offer these classes, and they have yet to be standardized.
High Graduation Examination
All high school students in Vietnam are required to take the national High Graduation Examination
(HGE), which is administered by the Ministry of Education and Training, at the end of grade 12 to
get a diploma. They still have to take the regular end-of-term examinations before taking the High
Graduation Examination.
The Standard HGE includes six subjects with a maximum value of 10 points each: mathematics,
Vietnamese literature, foreign language, and three alternating subjects determined by the Ministry
of Education and Training, varying each year. In order to graduate, a student needs to achieve at
least a total score of 30 points with no paper to achieve zero-score. A score below this or a zero-
score for any subject will also disqualify a student from taking part in the University Entrance
Examination.
There is also an Alternative HGE for people not studying in standardized High School, occurs the
same time with the Standard HGE. The six subjects included is mathematics, Vietnamese
literature, and four alternating subjects determined by the Ministry of Education and Training,
varying each year, three of which is the same with those of the Standard HGE. The graduation
requirements are still remain the same.Nearly 1 million students sit for the Leaving Examination in
late May or early June every year.

Higher education
University entrance is based on the scores achieved in the entrance examination. High school
graduates need high scores to be admitted to universities. Securing a place in a public university
is considered a major step towards a successful career, especially for those from rural areas or
disadvantaged families. The pressure on the candidates therefore remains very high, despite the
measures taken to reduce the importance of these exams. In 2004, it was estimated that nearly
one million students took the exam, but on average, only 20% passed.
Normally, candidates take three exams for the fixed group of subjects they choose. There are
many fixed groups of subjects:
Group A : Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry
Group A1: Mathematics, Physics, English
Group B : Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry
Group C : Literature, History, Geography
Group D : Literature, Foreign Language, Mathematics
Group D consists of 6 subgroups based on the languages they provide in universities:
Group D1: entrance exam subject is English; major language in university is English
Group D2: entrance exam subject is Russian; major language in university is Russian
Group D3: entrance exam subject is French; major language in university is French
Group D4: entrance exam subject is English; major language in university is Mandarin
Group D5: entrance exam subject is English; major language in university is German
Group D6: entrance exam subject is English; major language in university is Japanese
Besides these, there are also other groups for artistic and cultural education:
Group H: Literature,Colored Painting, Pencil Drawing
Group M: Literature, Mathematics, Singing and Expressive Reading, Instrument Performance
(optional)
Group N: Literature, Tone and Melody, Vocal
Group R: Literature, History, Journalism
Group S: Literature, Theatrical Talents
Group T: Mathematics, Biology, Sports
Group V: Mathematics, Physics, Drawing
In 2007, Vietnams Ministry of Education and Training started to use multiple choice exam format
for several subjects during the university entrance examination. These subjects include: Physics,
Chemistry, Biology and Foreign Language. Each multiple choice exam lasts 90 minutes. The
foreign language exam consists of 80 multiple choice questions; meanwhile, the Physics,
Chemistry, Biology exam has 50 questions. Math, Literature, History and Geography exams still
use composition format.
Starting from the entrance exam of 2013, 10 artistic and cultural universities will remove Literature
from the exam of the group H, N and S. Instead, the results of three years in high school and the
scores of the HGE will be used to evaluate the candidates.Types of Higher Education Institutions
See also: List of universities in Vietnam
Vietnamese Government decree (decree 43/2000/ND-CP, dated August 30, 2000) identified three
types of higher education institutions:
"i hc" (University), which is a multidisciplinary institution offering various fields of study and
which has research capacities. Five major multidisciplinary universities in Vietnam are Vietnam
National University, Hanoi; Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City; Hu University;
University of Da Nang; and Thai Nguyen University.
"trng i hc" (Senior college), which is more narrowly focused in its curriculum, sometimes
on a single study area.
"Hc vin" (Institute), which is also narrowly focused in terms of study area, but which may also
have a specialized research capacity.
In addition, there are junior college or community colleges, professional secondary schools, and
vocational schools which offer degrees or certificates, after courses lasting from a few months to
two years.
In the school year 2010-2011,Vietnam had a total of 163 universities (including senior colleges and
institutes) and 223 junior colleges, in which 50 senior colleges and 30 junior colleges are non-
public.The presence of foreign universities is increasing. Universities such as RMIT and
University of Hawaii offer degrees in fields such as business, English as a Second Language and
Information Technology. Running a foreign education system in Vietnam is challenging. Quality
control and affordability are key issues, as well as red tape.
Higher education qualificationsAssociate Degree (Vietnamese: Cao ng): a three-year program
delivered by junior colleges (including teachers colleges and others) and also by some
universities as additional training programs in Vietnam.
Bachelor Degree (Vietnamese: C nhn): a four- to six-year program in which six years for
students studying medical and dental sciences; five years for students of industrial engineering
and four years for the majority of other undergraduate degree in Vietnam such as Social Sciences.
Graduates received degree with a title corresponding to their field of study such as bachelor (c
nhn), engineer (k s), medical doctor (bc s) or lawyer (lut s) etc.
Most of Vietnam's universities also offer master's (2 years) and Doctor of Philosophy (4 years)
degrees.