Photo: tintuc

PANO - Vietnam always values learning and it is the basic foundation for Vietnam to eliminate poverty and hunger.

Deputy-Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan made the statement at the Vietnam Forum: Lifelong Learning-Building a Learning Society, held on December 6th in Hanoi by the Ministry of Education and Training, the UNESCO Office in Hanoi and the ASEM Education and Research Hub for Lifelong Learning.

The forum has drawn the participation of more than 300 key policy-makers and leading educators from Vietnam and other countries. During the three-day event, participants will share experiences and viewpoints in order to enhance the understanding on the role of lifelong learning and support in Vietnam in building a national strategy.

At the forum, the Deputy PM pointed out that in 1945 more than 90 percent of Vietnam’s population was illiterate. At that time, President Ho Chi Minh introduced “Wiping out illiteracy” as a policy. In 2010, Vietnam has completed the universal secondary education and the GDP per capita has reached US $1,000. There are 200 students out of every 10,000 people. 

Lifelong learning, according to the Deputy PM, is institutionalised in Education Law. Accordingly, education for adults and irregular education have been main concerns. People at all ages and all levels have been given favourable conditions for learning. Moreover, every organisation has been made responsible for learning and actively participating in the cause of building a learning society.

There are two open universities offering distance training programs with more than 85,000 trainees and nearly 10,000 community learning centers in Vietnam. The learning-encouragement society has more than 7 million members, giving assistance to numerous students facing adversity.

The Deputy PM also stressed that Vietnam strongly pledged to cooperate with other organisations, such as ASEM and UNESCO, to promote the learning in Vietnam and build a learning society.

Related to educational achievements in Vietnam, Katherine Muller-Marin, Head of the UNESCO Office in Hanoi, expressed her admiration for them. On behalf of the UNESCO, she committed to keep giving assistance to the educational system in Vietnam and work with the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training to promote learning, such as proposals to improve regional training center under the Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) in Vietnam.

For her part, Rie Vejs- Kjeldgaard, ILO Director in Vietnam, confirmed that laborers’ skill needs improving to meet the growing development and changes of technology and science worldwide.

Also at the forum, several shortcomings of Vietnam, including poor awareness of local people, infrastructure and management competence, were also mentioned.

Some of the speeches also focused on the real state of education, impacts of policies and global trends to be considered to build a lifelong learning society.

Also on this occasion, Vietnam and Denmark signed an agreement on educational cooperation.

Translated by Mai Huong