Vietnam Education Quality Ranks Nearly Bottom in ASEAN: WEF

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released the 2013-2014 Global Competitiveness Report (GCI) which ranks Vietnam’s education system quality seventh out of eight ASEAN surveyed countries. Among the 10 ASEAN countries, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam take the top three spots, respectively, while Cambodia comes sixth and Thailand eighth. According to the report, Vietnam ranks 67th among the 148 surveyed nations in terms of general education quality and comes fourth in the ASEAN, behind Singapore (2nd), Brunei (23th) and Malaysia (33th). In tertiary education, Vietnam ranks 95th in the world and 7th in the ASEAN, behind Singapore (2nd), Malaysia (46th), Brunei (55th), Indonesia (64th), Thailand (66th) and the Philippines (67th). The report also states that money is not the most important factor in guaranteeing a good education and that teachers with high salaries do not necessarily possess adequate teaching capabilities. Initiated in 2004, the report covers 12 key criteria including education and training from which the WEF assesses the competitiveness of each economy. (Ha Noi Moi - New Hanoi Sept 11 p7)