An international study created by the Conference of Education Ministersof French-Speaking Countries reveals that Vietnamese primary educationis good as students are equipped with basic skills and knowledge.

The Programme for Analysing Education Systems (PASEC), launched in1991, aims to provide its members with information about educationsystems and relevant policies, said the Ministry of Education andTraining (MoET) at a conference in Hanoi on February 26.

Engaging in the programme’s 2011-2013 survey, Vietnam’s objective was toevaluate its education quality, particularly in mathematics andliterature.

More than 5,000 second and fifth gradersselected randomly from 180 schools in 55 cities and provinces across thecountry participated in the survey.

Accordingly, all secondgraders were found to display maths and literature skills at both lowand high levels, while 75 percent of fifth graders made progresses inmathematics and 25 percent of the weakest pupils saw their literatureskills improve.

Dr. Le Thi My Ha, head of the MoET’seducation evaluation centre, said the results reflect Vietnamesestudents’ great efforts as well as the country’s equal educationenvironment between rural and urban areas.

However,Vietnamese fifth graders’ skills in critical thinking, debate andapplying maths knowledge in reality remain weak, with up to 49.9 percentof them finding problems in these fields, the survey found.

It also pointed out that socio-economic factors, such as poor-qualitytextbooks, teachers and learning equipment, also affect the quality ofeducation.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Vinh Hien underlined theneed for schools to enhance communication, team-working and practicalskills for their students to further improve the country’s educationquality.-VNA