Ethnic Minority Education in Vietnam

Quang T. Trieu, Pennsylvania State University
Rukmalie Jayakody, Pennsylvania State University
Suet-ling Pong, Pennsylvania State University

Educational disparities between the Vietnamese majority and ethnic minority groups are well documented. Minorities have higher rates of illiteracy, lower rates of both primary and secondary school completion, higher rates of grade repetition, more ethnic minority students are not in a grade appropriate for their age, and very few ethnic minority students continue their education past secondary school. In trying to address these issues, the Vietnam government has invested in educational infrastructure and teacher training. Yet ethnic minorities continue to lag behind their majority counterparts. This research uses both quantitative and qualitative data to examine educational attainment and attitudes towards education among the Tai ethnic minority. Quantitative survey data will examine changes in educational attainment by age and differences by gender. Qualitative data from ethnographies and semi-structured interviews will examine the attitudes and values towards education, the perceived costs and benefits to educational attainment, and the barriers to educational success.