Early Childhood Education in Vietnam

Early childhood education in Vietnam has made remarkable progress since the early 2000s. Much of this progress is attributable to the Ministry of Education and Training’s commitment to improving access to early childhood education across the country. The Ministry has also sought to enhance the quality of early childhood education by revising the curriculum and upskilling the early childhood education workforce. Teachers in the early childhood education sector are now required to hold a university-level pedagogical qualification. An evaluation tool for rating the quality of early childhood education provision has also been developed. Policy has been updated to provide better for inclusive access to early childhood education for children with special needs. These developments have taken place against a background of significant challenges created by Vietnam’s geographic, ethnic and cultural diversity and the limited availability of resources. This chapter provides an orientation of the early childhood education sector in Vietnam. Topics addressed include access, quality, curriculum, inclusion and equity, teacher training and professional development, and leadership and governance. Trends in the sector are reported, and critical challenges for the future are identified. In general, the outlook for the future of the sector is bright.