East versus West, Capitalism versus Communism. Vietnam and North America are two very different countries. Not only they are located at the opposite sides of the globe, but also the mentality, the vision of the world is like day and night. It would be wrong to compare the educational system in these countries and decide which one is better. However, it could be useful to take a look at the outcomes of the systems and understand which works better. Although even this would be a bias vision, since the needs of the people in these countries and their goals are very different.
Both countries, Vietnam and the United States of America show a very high level of literacy. In the US 99% of the general population can read and write, and in Vietnam this number is above 92%. The educational systems are alike in some ways; there are institutions for the preschoolers, for teenagers and there is the higher education. In Vietnam, the system is divided in 5 stages, while in the US there are mainly 3. In order to contrast and compare the two systems, it would be logical to take a closer look at the two systems in general.
Vietnam – a country in South-East Asia, located on an Indochinese island. With population of almost 100 million people, it is one of the most populated countries in the world. According to the worldbank data, about 66% of the population remains rural. Despite an obvious decrease of the number in last decades, this index is still very high, compared to the rest of the world. This indicates that over 50% of population presumably does not seek higher education.
The local education is divided into certain levels. There are five – starting with pre-school education. 12 years is how long the basic education lasts. Basic education – 5 years, 4 years – the incomplete education, another 3 years – high school. Then students can enroll to Universities. Degrees they receive are similar to that of the US – Bachelor’s, Master’s, maser of Philosophy The country has increased the number of branches of foreign institutions, because Diplomas of local universities are not recognized in the US as well as in European countries.
The Government now wants to revise the educational system. The purpose of this review - to increase the number of hours of learning English, since it plays an important role for the business, which, incidentally, needs to support economic growth in the country.
Public schools usually were underfunded. Now only about half of these institutions are subsidized by the government. After the fifth grade, not all students can afford further education. On average, schoolteachers are not highly paid. As a result, they have to earn money on the side. At the same time teacher is a much-respected profession. But in last years the tendency is changing drastically and now according to Andreas Schleicher from the BBC, teachers are about to become one of the main priorities for the government. The changes that are taking place in Vietnamese schools are life changing. The government is taking education very seriously and when changes happen at the governmental level – they really happen.
At the same time, the government is also helping the less fortunate to have a chance to enroll. This is a very fertile ground and the results are being seen almost immediately. Now the only dilemma that is standing before the Vietnamese government is how to maintain all these clever kids which are about to become adults, in Vietnam. For now there is not enough professions for them where they can apply their “superhuman” mathematic and other knowledge it is now important not to let these bright minds flee to capitalist countries, such as US for example
Educational system in the United States consists of several levels: primary, secondary (school) and higher education.
Early childhood education (preschool) - This is an educational program for children three to five years, reminding us the usual kindergartens. There are private institutions of pre-school education, as well as the states and funded by the US federal government (Head Start program for children from low-income families). Preschool education is not mandatory in the United States.
Secondary education is compulsory in the US. It consists of three levels: elementary school, middle school and high school. About three percent of US children are learning at home, not attending school for religious, medical or other reasons. There are a number of training programs for "house" sessions.
After graduating from high school, people can continue their studies in higher education institutions - colleges or universities. Education in college can take two years (degree of associate's degree, a sort of secondary special education), four years (the degree of a bachelor), Bachelor's, the most popular and common form of higher education in the US) and more (master or doctor of philosophy, Ph.D).
The US education system is decentralized; there is no uniform for the whole country or curriculum standards. Even the accreditation of higher education institutions and students to develop test systems in the United States by private organizations.
Eduardo Porter in his article for the New York Times complains or maybe simply states the facts, that the US that once was a country that others looked up to, now became a home for the kids with no motivation to study. He also describes how college attendance dropped in recent decades. And even though workers with college degree earn a much higher salary than those who don’t, the unsettling tendency continues to grow. The main reason to blame that he names – the impossibly high costs for higher education that not all families see necessity to bear.
So what is similar and what is different in two educational systems?
The general hierarchy of education is similar; kindergarten, school, university. While there is no obligatory education in Vietnam, the US insists for its people to have basic school education. Still, the level of literate people in both countries is almost similar. This is where motivation of the Eastern people and motivation of their government scores points.
Speaking of the government. Its influence in the Vietnamese scholar program plays the key role, by supporting and financing educational institutions and separate organs. While in the US the Ministry of Education is underperforming lately. The result of such differences we witness in the scores of the students of both countries.
The contrast is also very clear in the goals of students from both countries. While most Vietnamese adults remain at the level of elementary of middle school, their children do everything in their power to complete higher education and to get better scores. The situation in America is opposite. While the previous generations of Americans tried to get to high school no matter what, children these days show much less passion towards higher education. Children in America show overall much worse results that the Vietnamese students, whose scores in most subjects, especially exact sciences are among world’s top results. This can be due to several reasons. One – American children have almost everything and now they have little to strive for, while most Vietnamese children live in poorer conditions. Another – children see these days that many things can be achieved by blogging, posting content online and doing simply what you like, with no higher education.
Overall, lately people in the “educational world” have been questioning the Western system of education. While it has been adopted by many countries and was considered prominent and advanced, today we see that its results are not as great as those of the old systems, like for example in Vietnam. American system of education gives too much personal freedom and freedom of thought to a student. While it is believed to nurture creativity in children, it is not addressed to raise the level of discipline, including self-discipline. At the same time, educational system in Vietnam is based on the old school upbringing, where the teacher is the indisputable leader. As it even was stated by the prominent ancient philosophers - monarchy is the best form of the government. Because too much of people’s opinion brings more destruction than common sense. Putting it onto education, we get that the form of education where the teacher is the leader is better. And the latest scores of the American children prove it.
Summing up all the information, it shows that the system of education is nothing without motivation from both the students and the government. If the tendency continues this way, and with the rise of foreign University branches in Vietnam, there will be an even greater shift of Eastern professionals to the West. In this situation the question will be: what will the American students do when all the good jobs will be taken by the Asians and Europeans who are eager to achieve something. This is a question for the American government that should take a better look at financial structure of the educational institutions. Of course, what worked in Vietnam will not necessarily work in the US, because the mentality and the level of the freedom of mind is very different. It is important for the American system of education to adopt a structure that will work in its liberal democratic society.
Works Cited
“Rural population (% of total population). The World Bank. Worldbank.org. Web.
Schleicher, Andreas. “Vietnam’s stunning rise in school standards”. BBC. 17 June 2015.
Web.
Porter, Eduardo. “A simple Equation: More Education = More Income”. The New York
Times. 10 September 2014. Web.
