Vietnam’s exceptional educational achievement: a thematic review of the emerging literature

Abstract

The World Bank and other global actors were impressed by the fact that the relatively poor Southeast Asian country Vietnam made significant success in the PISA evaluation in 2012, placing ahead of several Western countries like the US, UK, Australia, and Sweden. In this article, recent research that focuses on educational achievement, specifically PISA performance, in Vietnam has comprehensively been reviewed ( N = 20 studies), using a systematic literature review. Further, it discusses the decrease in PISA 2015 and interprets this negative trend based on relevant data disentangled from the literature review. The findings suggest that the structural changes that were implemented in the aftermath of the Đổi Mới reforms in 1986 have paved the way for increasing quality and quantity of education, which affect scores in assessments such as PISA. Furthermore, cognitive ability and an education-oriented national culture which fosters diligence among students have further enhanced the results. However, there are still large equity disparities between the majority Kinh group and various minority groups that seem to affect academic achievement.