Nguyen Minh Hien Minister of Education and Training Born in 1948 in Thai Binh Province, the Honorable Nguyen Minh Hien is the Minister of Education and Training for the country of Vietnam. Prior to this he served as Vice Minister of this ministry as well as Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese National Commission for UNESCO. A graduate in physics and quantum electronics at Minsk University in Belarus, Dr. Hien brings to his ministry a strong background in higher education and technology, having been Lecturer, Dean, Director and Rector at various Faculties and Centres of the Hanoi University of Technology.

Quality and equity in education

Coming into the globalisation era, in the highly competitive economic environment we are living in, human capital is the first and decisive factor determining the vitality and existence of each nation. Skills, knowledge, culture, values and attitudes of citizens are invaluable properties for any country if they are to achieve social stability and sustainable economic development.

Besides human resource, social capital is becoming more and more important. A society which is typicalised by disciplines and mutual trust is a strong, stable and sustainable one, similarly, harmony and peace will bring about a solid foundation for economic growth. Education plays a key role in forming and developing human and social resources of a country. The goal of education is to prepare necessary abilities for the young generation in order to cope with challenges and succeed in the world, as well as strengthening their awareness of social and national spirits. Learning should help the young generation reveal their potential ability, maximise their strengths and keep alive their attitude towards lifelong learning.

In order to raise the awareness of the young generation of their ownership of the world in which they are living, we should provide them with opportunities to observe, understand, respect and care the world around them. At the same time, we should support the youth to have opportunities to share their ideas and aspiration. Especially, an important factor which should be paid attention to is the quality of teachers. In addition to general knowledge, teachers should have a heavy task of conveying the real value and forming human dignity for the youth. Forums for teachers to exchange views, sharing information, teaching and practicing methods are effective activities which favours efforts to improve the quality of education.

In meeting the demand for development of the country, the Government of Vietnam regards the development of education and training as important motive which accelerate the cause of industrialization and modernization as well as necessary condition to stimulate the human resource – a basic factor for fast and sustainable socio-economic development. Improving education’s quality and equity is a top priority in National Education Development Strategy. In the next few years, Vietnam aims at continually consolidating the achievements gained in the recent years; gradually improving the quality of comprehensive education; renew teaching and learning methods and contents, educational institutions and educational management systems toward “standardization, modernization, socialization”. Ensuring social equity in education, creating favourable conditions for the poor, ethnic minority pupils, pupils in difficult regions, or pupils with special demand to access education and learning opportunities.

We do believe in a bright future when all children are provided equal chances to study and able to participate in all education programs and service regardless of their colours, races, genders or how much they have succeeded in their studies.