View in EDS

Quality at Scale: Advancing Viet Nam's Early Childhood Education and Care System

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Quality at Scale: Advancing Viet Nam's Early Childhood Education and Care System
Language: English
Authors: Dung Kieu Vo, Nguyet Anh Tran, Tracey Stormn McAskill, Lien Phuong Thi Pham, World Bank
Source: World Bank. 2025.
Availability: World Bank Publications. 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433. Tel: 202-458-4500; Fax: 202-552-1500; Web site: http://www.worldbank.org/
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 135
Publication Date: 2025
Intended Audience: Policymakers; Administrators; Teachers
Document Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Descriptors: Early Childhood Education, Foreign Countries, Educational Quality, Access to Education, Equal Education, Child Care, Educational Change, Educational Objectives, Futures (of Society), Barriers, Early Childhood Teachers, Teacher Education, Work Environment, Teaching Conditions, Teacher Persistence, Student Centered Learning, Educational Practices, Private Education, Quality Assurance
Geographic Terms: Vietnam
Abstract: This report is a deliverable under the Viet Nam's Start Strong ASA. It is intended primarily for the Government of Viet Nam (GoV), particularly the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and other central agencies engaged in the financing, planning, regulation, and delivery of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, as well as provincial and commune authorities, and teacher training institutions. Co-funded by the World Bank, including the Early Learning Partnership Trust Fund, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the ASA was organized around five policy pillars, providing targeted analytical inputs, technical solutions, and capacity building in each area. Crucially, the ASA was embedded in the reform process with World Bank experts having worked hand-in-hand with the task force led by Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and other stakeholders from inception through policy formulation. Building on this reform agenda, this report examines how quality is defined, supported, and enacted in Viet Nam's early childhood education and care (ECEC) system, with a forward-looking focus on the policy and system shifts needed to strengthen classroom practice, professional support, and quality assurance as access continues to expand. It is intended as a strategic diagnostic to inform the next phase of ECEC quality reform, rather than a retrospective assessment of past programs or investments. The decision to focus this ECEC report on quality reflects both domestic achievements and global lessons. After two decades of concerted effort, Viet Nam is on the verge of universalizing access to ECEC for kindergarten children--an accomplishment few lower-middle-income countries have attained. With access goals in sight, the critical question now is how to ensure that ECEC actually delivers the intended benefits for children's development. International experience shows that expanding access without attention to quality can lead to disappointing outcomes. Children who sit in poorly resourced, rote-learning preschools may gain little more than those who do not attend at all. Expanding access must not come at the expense of quality is the central principle adopted in Viet Nam's new ECEC agenda. This report aligns with that principle, examining how Viet Nam can safeguard and raise quality while broadening access. The findings presented in this report are grounded in a broad evidence base. In summary, the focus on quality in this report emerges from both urgency and opportunity. Viet Nam's ECEC system is at a pivotal moment: access is being scaled up to new heights, and the policy environment is ripe for reforms that could institutionalize quality improvements for years to come. Thus, this report concentrates on the question of "how to improve early childhood education quality and maximize benefits for young children." [This report is a collective endeavor of the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC). Financial support for this report was from Early Learning Partnership Trust Fund.]
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: ED679803
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:This report is a deliverable under the Viet Nam's Start Strong ASA. It is intended primarily for the Government of Viet Nam (GoV), particularly the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and other central agencies engaged in the financing, planning, regulation, and delivery of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, as well as provincial and commune authorities, and teacher training institutions. Co-funded by the World Bank, including the Early Learning Partnership Trust Fund, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the ASA was organized around five policy pillars, providing targeted analytical inputs, technical solutions, and capacity building in each area. Crucially, the ASA was embedded in the reform process with World Bank experts having worked hand-in-hand with the task force led by Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and other stakeholders from inception through policy formulation. Building on this reform agenda, this report examines how quality is defined, supported, and enacted in Viet Nam's early childhood education and care (ECEC) system, with a forward-looking focus on the policy and system shifts needed to strengthen classroom practice, professional support, and quality assurance as access continues to expand. It is intended as a strategic diagnostic to inform the next phase of ECEC quality reform, rather than a retrospective assessment of past programs or investments. The decision to focus this ECEC report on quality reflects both domestic achievements and global lessons. After two decades of concerted effort, Viet Nam is on the verge of universalizing access to ECEC for kindergarten children--an accomplishment few lower-middle-income countries have attained. With access goals in sight, the critical question now is how to ensure that ECEC actually delivers the intended benefits for children's development. International experience shows that expanding access without attention to quality can lead to disappointing outcomes. Children who sit in poorly resourced, rote-learning preschools may gain little more than those who do not attend at all. Expanding access must not come at the expense of quality is the central principle adopted in Viet Nam's new ECEC agenda. This report aligns with that principle, examining how Viet Nam can safeguard and raise quality while broadening access. The findings presented in this report are grounded in a broad evidence base. In summary, the focus on quality in this report emerges from both urgency and opportunity. Viet Nam's ECEC system is at a pivotal moment: access is being scaled up to new heights, and the policy environment is ripe for reforms that could institutionalize quality improvements for years to come. Thus, this report concentrates on the question of "how to improve early childhood education quality and maximize benefits for young children." [This report is a collective endeavor of the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC). Financial support for this report was from Early Learning Partnership Trust Fund.]