Resolution 71 is expected to create a breakthrough development for education and training in Vietnam. (Photo: Vietnam+)

The Vietnamese Party and State have regarded education and training as a primary national priority. In the context of new development demands, Vietnam needs strategic breakthroughs to unlock resources and create momentum to realize its aspiration of becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045.

Breakthrough in vision

In 2013, the 8th Plenum of the 11th Party Central Committee adopted Resolution 29 on “Fundamental and Comprehensive Reform of Education and Training to Meet the Demands of Industrialization and Modernization in the Context of a Socialist-Oriented Market Economy and International Integration”.

While Resolution 29 focused on “fundamental and comprehensive reform,” the new Resolution 71 emphasizes “strategic breakthroughs,” recognizing education as a core task and a decisive factor shaping the nation’s future.

According to Dr. Pham Van Gieng of Hanoi National University of Education 2, the breakthrough of Resolution 71 lies in its strategic rethinking, in which education means imparting knowledge and also creating the future, is not only about equity and universal access but also about nurturing excellence, is not limited to internal improvements but expands to a holistic, sustainable framework linked to science, technology, the market economy, international integration, and digital transformation.

Hanoi National University campus (Photo: VGP)

For decades, Vietnam has coordinated elite education, workforce-oriented education, and mass education. Resolution 71 seeks to strike a balance between universal access and elite training. Dr. Gieng says that, for the first time, the element of “excellence” is strongly and explicitly emphasized alongside mass education, underscoring the training of high-quality human resources as a driving force for higher national goals.

The Resolution positions education as a matter of survival, decisive to the nation’s future and directly aligned with Vietnam’s strategic goal of becoming a developed nation by 2045. This is a shift from reform-as-adjustment to a creative, future-shaping mindset where education leads national development.

Breakthrough in goals

For the first time, Vietnam’s education targets are benchmarked against global rankings. The resolution sets concrete goals: 20% of universities and vocational institutions should be modernized to the level of advanced Asian countries by 2030 and enrollment in basic sciences should reach 35%. These targets reflect Vietnam’s ambition to keep pace and to stand on a par with leading Asian education systems.

Vietnam also aims to have 8 universities ranked among Asia’s top 200 and at least 1 university among the world’s top 100 by 2030. This forward-looking goal makes higher education central to developing a high-quality workforce.

Resolution 71 raises state spending on higher education to 3% of the national budget, a financial breakthrough to overcome decades of chronic underinvestment. For comparison, from 2016 to 2020 education spending accounted for 18-20% of the state budget, but only 1.5-1.8% went to higher education. The new allocation is expected to provide sufficient resources for the internationalization of Vietnam’s education system.

The Resolution also strikes a balance between ensuring fairness and nurturing talent. The shift acknowledges that national development requires a large general workforce and an elite contingent to lead in science, technology, and governance.

Resolution 71 is the most “breakthrough” policy in Vietnam’s education sector to date. It aims to integrate Vietnam’s education internationally. It’s a turning point that shows the Party’s determination to make education and training the center of the nation’s development strategy. With clearly defined perspectives, goals, tasks, and solutions aligned with international standards, the resolution paves the way for Vietnam to enter the ranks of developed, prosperous nations by the mid-21st century.