Impact of Private Higher Education on Inequalities in Vietnam

The development of private education in Vietnam is recent compared with many other countries in the Global South. This chapter focuses on the inequality implications of the emergence and transformation of the private higher education sector in Vietnam over time and through regulatory change. Though initially accepted as a paying alternative for students left behind by a selective public sector, private higher education has, with time and reforms, grown in size and gained legitimacy. Over the past 15 years, access to higher education has increased for all income groups but more rapidly for the middle classes. By contrast, the enrollment of the economically, ethnically and geographically disadvantaged groups has progressed much slower. During the period, inequalities halved in public universities and more than doubled in the private sector. However, public policies have overlooked the role of the private sector in producing inequalities. The mere size difference between the public and private sectors allowed the reduction of inequalities in the former to offset their increase in the latter. The current policy of university autonomy narrows the differences between public and private universities, relying on meritocratic promotion and market competition to ensure equal opportunities. But iInstead of reducing inequalities in private universities, the resulting multi-tier sector should contribute to increasing them in public universities.