Politburo Sets Goal for Vietnam’s Education to Rank Among World’s Top 20 by 2045

Education and training, together with science and technology, are the top national policies

Politburo Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in education and training development was promulgated on August 22, 2025.

The Resolution states: Throughout the country’s development process, the Party and the State have always regarded education and training, together with science and technology, as top national policies. Numerous major guidelines and policies have been issued to promote innovation and strong development in education and training, yielding important achievements. Vietnam is among 21 countries to have early achieved the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal on quality education by 2030.

However, education and training still face many difficulties and limitations and have not truly become a key driving force for the country’s breakthrough development. Access to education remains low compared to developed countries, with significant disparities among regions and population groups. The teaching workforce, infrastructure, and school facilities in many places fail to meet requirements. The higher education and vocational training systems remain fragmented and outdated, falling short of the demand for high-quality human resources and scientific research, especially in several key sectors and fields. Negative practices and formalism in education remain widespread. Educational content and curricula still have many shortcomings, while moral, physical, and aesthetic education have not received adequate attention and are not truly effective.

The main reasons for these limitations are the lack of full and resolute recognition and implementation of the viewpoint that education and training are “top national policies” and “the work of the Party, the State, and the entire people”; the slow renewal of thinking on education management and development; inappropriate perceptions of autonomy and socialization in education; low investment resources for education, with ineffective allocation and use, and unsustainable financial mechanisms; inadequate regimes and policies for teachers; a heavy emphasis on social status; personnel policies that value academic degrees over actual competence; and social ills that significantly affect educational activities both inside and outside schools.

In a context where the world is undergoing profound and comprehensive changes, particularly as digital technology and artificial intelligence are reshaping education globally, every nation must redefine its vision and strategy for the future of its education system. Our country now faces a historic opportunity for breakthrough development. The need to build people and develop human resources has become both crucial and urgent, requiring breakthroughs in education and training to help nurture a new generation of Vietnamese citizens—patriotic and proud of their nation, with the courage, intellect, skills, qualifications, and health necessary to meet the demands of national development and defense in the new stage of growth.

Goals of Vietnamese Education Across Different Periods

Goals by 2030

- Expand equitable access and enhance the quality of early childhood education and general education to reach an advanced level within the Asian region. Establish a school network that fundamentally meets the learning needs of students across all groups and regions, ensuring that at least 80% of general education institutions meet national standards. Complete the universalization of preschool education for children aged 3 to 5, and compulsory education through lower secondary school; at least 85% of individuals of eligible age complete upper secondary education or its equivalent, with no province or city falling below 60%. Achieve initial results in improving technological capacity, artificial intelligence competencies, and English proficiency at the general education level. The education index contributing to the Human Development Index (HDI) shall reach above 0.8, with the education inequality index reduced to below 10%.

- Develop and train human resources, particularly high-quality human resources, to meet the requirements for Viet Nam to become a developing country with a modern industrial base and an upper-middle-income economy. The network of higher education and vocational education institutions shall be reorganized appropriately and upgraded; strive for 100% of higher education institutions and at least 80% of vocational education institutions to meet national standards, with 20% invested to reach a modern level comparable to developed Asian countries. The proportion of individuals of eligible age enrolled in post-secondary education shall reach 50%. The proportion of workers with college, university, or higher qualifications shall reach 24%. The proportion of learners in basic sciences, engineering, and technology shall be at least 35%, including no fewer than 6,000 doctoral candidates and 20,000 participants in talent programs. The human capital and research indices contributing to the Global Innovation Index (GII) shall be on par with those of upper-middle-income countries.

- Elevate higher education institutions to truly become national and regional centers of research, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The network of higher education institutions shall play a pivotal role in the innovation ecosystems of regions and localities, providing high-quality human resources and talent to meet the demands of key industries and sectors; recruit at least 2,000 outstanding lecturers from abroad. Achieve an average annual increase of 12% in international scientific publications and revenues from science, technology, and innovation; and 16% per year in patent applications and granted patents. Strive for at least 8 higher education institutions to be ranked among the top 200 universities in Asia, and at least 1 higher education institution to be ranked among the top 100 universities worldwide in certain fields according to reputable international rankings.

Goals by 2035

The education and training system shall continue to be modernized, making strong and steady progress in access, equity, and quality. Achieve the universalization of upper secondary education and its equivalent; the education index contributing to the Human Development Index (HDI) shall exceed 0.85; the human capital and research indices contributing to the Global Innovation Index (GII) shall surpass the average level of upper-middle-income countries. Strive for at least 2 higher education institutions to be ranked among the world’s top 100 universities in certain fields according to reputable international rankings.

Vision to 2045

Viet Nam will have a modern, fair, and high-quality national education system, ranking among the world’s top 20 countries. Every citizen will have opportunities for lifelong learning, to improve their knowledge and skills, and to fully realize their personal potential. High-quality human resources and scientific and technological talents will become a driving force and a core competitive advantage for the nation, contributing to making Viet Nam a developed, high-income country. The goal is to have at least 5 universities ranked among the world’s top 100 in certain fields according to reputable international rankings.

Missions and solutions

1. Raise awareness, renew mindset and actions, and affirm strong political will to achieve breakthroughs in education and training development.

- Thoroughly and profoundly instill throughout the entire political system and society the Party’s viewpoints, guidelines, and President Ho Chi Minh’s ideology on education and training. Step up communication efforts to raise awareness and strengthen the roles and responsibilities of all central ministries and agencies, socio-political organizations, Party committees, local authorities, institutions, organizations, enterprises, and the entire population with regard to the cause of education and training.

- Continue to vigorously renew thinking in leadership and direction; make a strong shift from administrative management to development facilitation, modern governance, and decisive action. Place education and training development within the broader framework of national and social governance to ensure orientation, planning, and socio-economic development strategies; integrate the goals, tasks, and solutions for education and training as a central priority in strategies, plans, policies, and programs across all sectors, with resources allocated accordingly.

- Strengthen the comprehensive and direct leadership role of Party organizations, especially the role of the head of Party committees in educational institutions. Do not establish school councils in public educational institutions (except for public schools with international agreements). Implement the model in which the secretary of the Party committee concurrently serves as the head of the educational institution.

2. Strongly reform institutions, and establish special, breakthrough mechanisms and policies for the development of education and training.

- Focus on improving legal regulations to promptly address institutional, mechanism, and policy bottlenecks; enhance the quality and effectiveness of law-making and enforcement; promote innovation and foster the development of education and training. Strengthen decentralization and delegation of authority in tandem with resource allocation; increase autonomy and accountability of educational institutions in association with effective inspection and supervision; streamline management agencies overseeing educational institutions, ensuring the principle of linking professional management with personnel and financial management; and step up training and capacity-building for education administrators in line with the two-tier local government model. Build an open and interconnected education system, promote lifelong learning, and foster the development of a learning society.

- Introduce special and preferential policies for the teaching workforce; raise professional allowance rates in preschool and general education institutions to at least 70% for teachers, at least 30% for staff, and 100% for teachers in especially disadvantaged areas, border regions, islands, and ethnic minority areas. Formulate appropriate policies to attract talented professionals outside the teaching workforce to participate in teaching and training at educational institutions; implement a system of joint appointments as adjunct lecturers for outstanding individuals working in public service units; and establish mechanisms to encourage talented experts to lead scientific research activities in educational institutions.

- Ensure full and comprehensive autonomy for higher education institutions and vocational education institutions, regardless of their level of financial autonomy. Improve regulations on staffing, standards, qualifications, recruitment procedures, and appointments for professors, associate professors, and other academic titles in line with international practices and Viet Nam’s realities. On that basis, empower higher education and vocational education institutions to make their own decisions and implement measures suitable to their conditions, including the recruitment and employment of lecturers as well as the appointment of leadership and managerial positions for outstanding experts from abroad.

- Fundamentally reform financial and investment mechanisms and policies for education and training. Allocate state budget resources to higher education and vocational education institutions based on their missions, quality, and performance under a unified sector-wide mechanism; prioritize contracting and task assignments for key industries and fields in accordance with output-based results.

- State budget expenditure on education and training shall account for at least 20% of total state budget expenditure, of which investment expenditure shall reach no less than 5% of total state budget expenditure, and expenditure for higher education shall account for at least 3% of total state budget expenditure. Adopt a unified policy to formulate and implement a new National Target Program on the modernization and quality enhancement of education and training for the 2026–2035 period, with priority given to investment in higher education.

- Expand financial support policies and preferential credit for learners, ensuring that no student drops out due to financial hardship. Develop and implement a Talent Training Program, with priority given to basic sciences, engineering, and technology. Establish a National Scholarship Fund and promote the effectiveness of other scholarship and educational encouragement funds sourced from the state budget and other lawful resources to incentivize learning and support the development of education.

- Raise standards for educational institutions at all levels, stipulating minimum land area, norms, and standards progressively approaching regional and international benchmarks. Prioritize allocation of cleared land, permit flexible conversion of land use purposes to educational use; focus on land clearance and hand over cleared land for education and training projects. Exempt land use fees and reduce land lease fees and land taxes for domestic educational institutions. Exempt corporate income tax for public educational institutions and non-profit private educational institutions. Prioritize the allocation of redundant government office premises after restructuring to educational institutions; allow the leasing of state-owned facilities to private educational institutions.

- Establish robust mechanisms and policies to encourage organizations and enterprises to invest in education and training development; promote public–private partnerships; expand cooperation and linkages among higher education institutions, vocational education institutions, research institutions, organizations, and enterprises both domestically and internationally; and prioritize credit capital for education and training development projects. Develop a legal framework to establish endowment funds enabling educational institutions to mobilize community-based financing.

3. Strengthen comprehensive education in morality, intellect, physical well-being, and aesthetics, fostering the value system of Vietnamese people in the new era.

- Focus on improving the legal framework, mechanisms, and policies to ensure moral education, character development, and the standard value system of the Vietnamese people in all areas of political, economic, and social life. Clearly define the roles, responsibilities, and coordination mechanisms among families, schools, and society in fostering morality, character, and the value system of the Vietnamese people; emphasize the accountability of state management agencies, Party committees, and local authorities.

- Develop and concretize the value system of the Vietnamese people in the new era, integrating it throughout curricula at all levels of education. Persistently build a school culture, a culture of quality, practical learning, and practical careers associated with the exemplary responsibility of teachers; place emphasis on nurturing professional ethics among educators. Innovate the content and methods of teaching to improve the quality and effectiveness of education in morality, ideals, social responsibility, cultural lifestyle, historical traditions, politics, ideology, law, economy, finance, national defense, and security. Implement solutions to prevent and minimize negative impacts of the market mechanism, the media, and social networks. Prevent, repel, and ultimately eliminate school violence and drug abuse in schools. Enact legal regulations to enhance school nutrition and improve the physical well-being of the Vietnamese people.

4. Advance comprehensive digital transformation, universalize access, and vigorously apply digital technology and artificial intelligence in education and training.

- Develop a data strategy to serve digital transformation and establish a national education platform applying controlled artificial intelligence; allocate sufficient resources to invest in facilities and technology infrastructure to accelerate digital transformation, universalize access, and apply digital technology and artificial intelligence in the management and organization of educational and training activities at all levels nationwide.

- Build smart education platforms, smart textbooks, and smart curricula; strongly promote the application of science, technology, and artificial intelligence in innovating teaching and learning methods, testing, and assessment; foster the adoption of digital education models, artificial intelligence–based education, smart education governance, digital schools, and smart classrooms.

- Develop a national education and human resources information system, interconnected with the labor and employment market information system, and integrate scientific, technological, and innovation data from educational institutions.

- Enhance digital and artificial intelligence competency standards for learners and educators at all levels, incorporating them into curricula in tandem with the promotion of creative and experiential activities. Introduce policies to encourage and mobilize enterprises and higher education institutions to participate in the training and capacity-building of teachers and learners in digital and artificial intelligence competencies.

5. Focus on building a qualified teaching workforce and standardized school facilities, and on improving the quality of preschool and general education.

- Pay attention to educating children from the earliest stages of life, and prepare sufficient conditions to achieve universal preschool education for children aged 3 to 5.

- Review and improve standards and criteria to ensure the adequate number and appropriate structure of the teaching workforce; allocate sufficient teaching and support staff in accordance with prescribed standards; improve the quality of training and professional development for teachers and education managers; intensify the implementation of preferential policies to attract talented students to teacher training programs; build staff housing and create favorable conditions for teachers working in remote areas.

- Concentrate resources on investing in the solidification and modernization of schools and classrooms; ensure sufficient standardized facilities and equipment, with particular attention to investment in practice rooms, STEM/STEAM experiential learning spaces, play areas, and physical training environments. Complete the establishment of a network of boarding schools for ethnic minority, disadvantaged, and border areas by 2030; expand the system of pre-university training for ethnic minority and mountainous students. Ensure that each province and centrally run city has at least one specialized education institution up to the upper secondary level.

- Place emphasis on education in ideology, traditions, morality, physical well-being, aesthetics, career orientation, and soft skills; increase instructional time for science, technology, informatics, and arts subjects; and study the incorporation of digital competency and artificial intelligence knowledge into the general education curriculum. Review and assess the implementation of the general education curriculum; ensure the provision of a unified set of national textbooks, and strive to provide free textbooks for all students by 2030. Make a decisive shift toward modern and active educational methods, enhancing self-learning, creative experiences, and fostering independent thinking and problem-solving skills among students; continue to reform testing and assessment methods to ensure honest evaluation of teaching and learning outcomes; and implement comprehensive solutions to overcome the widespread phenomenon of extra classes and private tutoring.

- Reform the model of specialized schools and gifted schools to focus on nurturing national talents, and expand specialized STEM/STEAM classes. Strengthen foreign language teaching and learning, gradually making English a second language in schools, and introduce the teaching of neighboring countries’ languages. Raise English proficiency standards for teachers and students at all educational levels; ensure adequate numbers, qualifications, facilities, and technologies, and vigorously apply artificial intelligence in English teaching and learning; expand the teaching of subjects in English where conditions permit.

6. Reform and modernize vocational education to create breakthroughs in developing a highly skilled workforce.

- Focus on developing the system of vocational education institutions; restructure and reorganize existing vocational institutions to ensure streamlining, efficiency, and compliance with standards; select and invest in upgrading effective institutions, with priority given to modernizing a number of high-quality colleges meeting international standards. Strongly decentralize the management of vocational institutions to local governments.

- Reform the vocational education model by adding an upper secondary vocational level equivalent to general upper secondary education; vigorously renew curricula and training methods, applying technology and quality management to ensure efficiency and substantive outcomes in line with international standards. Improve mechanisms and policies to promote school–enterprise linkages, enhance enterprise-based training, and meet labor market demands, especially in vocational skills training for high-tech sectors. Use state budget resources to contract and assign tasks for training vocational education teachers and lecturers.

- Give priority to allocating state budget funds for training highly skilled human resources in technical and technological fields and for serving strategic programs and national key projects. Develop and implement high-quality vocational training programs for ethnic minority communities in appropriate occupations.

- Introduce policies to attract experts and highly skilled workers to participate in teaching and vocational skills training. Encourage enterprises to establish vocational education institutions. Establish mechanisms for enterprises to create workforce training funds, thereby promoting enterprise support for retraining and upskilling the labor force.

7. Modernize and elevate higher education to create breakthroughs in developing highly qualified human resources and talents, and to lead research and innovation.

- Urgently formulate a strategic framework for higher education development. Implement the restructuring and reorganization of higher education institutions; merge or dissolve institutions that fail to meet standards; abolish intermediate levels to ensure streamlined, unified, and effective governance; study the merger of research institutes with higher education institutions; strengthen state management over higher education institutions, and consider transferring certain universities to local authorities for management in order to improve governance efficiency and better meet local human resource training needs.

- Invest in modernizing technical infrastructure and expanding development spaces for higher education institutions that operate effectively. Focus on upgrading facilities and laboratories, and establishing centers of excellence in training and research at key higher education institutions and teacher training institutions. Provide strong investment and introduce special, breakthrough mechanisms to develop 3 to 5 elite universities following the model of world-class research universities to train national talents. Prioritize the allocation of funding for scientific research, particularly basic research linked with postgraduate training at higher education institutions.

- Encourage the planning and development of high-tech university urban areas; vigorously promote the development of higher education institutions following the models of innovation universities and new-generation technology universities, making them leaders and key pillars in regional innovation ecosystems; support effective implementation of State–University–Enterprise cooperation. Establish effective mechanisms to support lecturers and students in implementing startup and innovation projects, and in establishing spin-off and startup companies.

- Expand programs and projects for training and developing the teaching workforce, and increase support for lecturers pursuing advanced studies domestically and abroad. Develop programs to attract outstanding lecturers from overseas with preferential incentives.

- Strongly reform curricula in line with international standards, integrating content on data analysis and artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, and startup spirit. Support the expansion of talent training and postgraduate programs linked with scientific research, innovation, and creativity in basic sciences, engineering, and technology—especially in strategic technologies, priority technologies of Industry 4.0, and fields serving national key projects. Closely integrate training activities with research, scientific and technological development, innovation, and national digital transformation.

- Develop a scheme for reforming university admissions to accurately assess learners’ competencies, ensure unified control of entry standards across disciplines and institutions, and strictly monitor output quality. Strengthen quality management in conjunction with appropriate support policies for doctoral training, and for training in pedagogy, health, law, and other priority fields; restrict the training of specialized disciplines to designated specialized institutions; and establish strict regulations on doctoral studies for officials and civil servants.

8. Promote extensive international cooperation and integration in education and training.

- Expand, diversify, and deepen international cooperation mechanisms in education, training, and scientific research. Strengthen the application of international standards in the national education system in ways suited to Viet Nam’s conditions and circumstances. Promote negotiations and conclude agreements and treaties on cooperation in education, training, science, and technology; and participate in international organizations for quality assurance and educational development. Provide scholarships and introduce policies to encourage and support students, lecturers, and researchers to pursue studies, research, and teaching assignments in developed countries, in countries with traditional partnerships, and in those with strengths in priority fields, while taking advantage of bilateral cooperation programs.

- Improve mechanisms and policies to effectively support higher education institutions in cooperating and partnering with reputable universities and major foreign enterprises, particularly in priority fields and emerging technologies; encourage cooperation and joint training programs under digital and cross-border education models. Promote foreign investment in higher education and vocational education; foster cooperation to establish joint training units and research institutes with Vietnamese institutions. Strengthen quality management, safeguard cultural security, and promote the teaching of Vietnamese language, history, culture, geography, and people in educational institutions and programs with foreign involvement. Encourage and support Vietnamese educational institutions to establish branch campuses, open representative offices, or implement education programs abroad; and step up cooperation to expand Vietnamese language teaching and disseminate Vietnamese cultural and traditional values overseas, especially within overseas Vietnamese communities.

On Implementation

1. The Party Committee of the National Assembly shall lead and direct the review and improvement of laws on the reform and development of education and training; closely coordinate with the Party Committee of the Government to institutionalize specific resolutions on certain guidelines and policies set out in this Resolution, and allocate sufficient resources for implementation starting from 2025; and strengthen supervision of implementation in accordance with regulations.

2. The Party Committee of the Government shall lead and direct the development of an Action Program to implement this Resolution and urgently formulate, submit for approval by the competent authorities, and put into effect from 2026 a National Target Program on the modernization and quality enhancement of education and training. It shall take the lead and coordinate with the Party Committee of the National Assembly to proactively and promptly review and decide on mechanisms, policies, and solutions not specified in Part III above, in order to effectively realize the guidelines and objectives of this Resolution; and select and effectively implement a number of measures starting from the 2025–2026 academic year.

3. The Party Committee of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front and central mass organizations shall lead and direct the formulation of programs and plans to guide and mobilize the people in implementing the Resolution, promote their roles in supervision and social criticism, and participate in the development of laws and policies on the reform and development of education and training.

4. The Party Central Commission for Mass Mobilization, Communication and Education shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant agencies to organize the thorough dissemination and communication of the contents of the Resolution.

5. Provincial and municipal Party Committees shall lead and direct the thorough dissemination and strict implementation of the Resolution, ensure adequate investment resources for education and training, and strengthen inspection and supervision of the implementation process at the local level.

6. The Party Committee of the Government shall take the lead and coordinate with the Party Central Commission for Policy and Strategy, the Party Central Commission for Communication and Education, the Party Central Commission for Mass Mobilization, and the Party Central Office to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Resolution and report to the Politburo for guidance.

This Resolution shall be disseminated to all Party cells.