The Link Between Education, Poverty in Vietnam

The relationship between education and poverty has become well known: higher poverty rates correlate to lower rates of secondary and tertiary education, while higher education increases one’s likelihood of escaping poverty. These correlations are especially apparent when it comes to children who are forced to leave school to care for younger siblings or help support their families. Common among impoverished Vietnamese families, this convention particularly affects young girls, whose education is considered less important than that of boys. When there is only enough money to educate one child, struggling families with both sons and daughters tend to keep girls at home.

Poverty in Vietnam

According to the World Bank, Vietnam has achieved significant progress in reducing poverty over the past decade. Between 2010 and 2020, the country’s overall LMIC (lower-middle-income country) poverty rate decreased from 16.8% to 5%, and chronic poverty among some of the country’s most vulnerable groups, including minority and rural households, fell by 50% or more. Although the risk of experiencing extreme poverty is also now considered “low,” the World Bank noted that challenges persist. For example, some 13.6 million Vietnamese citizens remain “economically vulnerable,” meaning that they rely on low-income occupations and face financial instabilities that hinder upward mobility. The World Bank has therefore prioritized strategies for advancing equitable economic growth, such as:

Equalizing access to education and digital technology: A key factor in the fight against poverty, the importance of equal access to education and technology became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when students without digital technology fell significantly behind in their learning.

Raising labor productivity by expanding high-skilled occupations, access to higher education and the formalized business environment: As much of the population still relies upon low-income, low-skill or informal work, such factors are critical for Vietnam’s growth into a middle- to high-income economy.

Narrowing the gap between rural and developed areas: With poverty concentrated in rural areas that lack access to education and employment opportunities, narrowing the rural-urban gap is vital for activating the country’s full economic potential.

Fighting Poverty in Vietnam With Education

Although it is clear that education plays a key role in fighting poverty, barriers remain. Namely, a family needs income to educate its children. Apart from tuition, uniforms, supplies and other necessities present costs that many poor and vulnerable families cannot afford. This financial barrier to education is cyclical — it prevents impoverished students from entering or staying in school and increases their likelihood of remaining in poverty. Conversely, families who can afford to educate their children minimize their risk of falling into poverty.

Such imbalances are evident in Vietnam, where, by the age of 19, 80% of students from the richest 20% of households are still in school, compared with just 20% from the poorest 20% of households. However, progress is also evident.

While the country has worked to improve the quality of education at the national level, organizations such as UNICEF are working to ensure that impoverished and disadvantaged children have equal access to it. Aligning with the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals, UNICEF aims to make education in Vietnam more inclusive by strengthening skills-based and individually-centered learning. Its programs include the Education for Disadvantaged Adolescents program and the Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities program. The former focuses on expanding young people’s employment opportunities by providing vocational training and career guidance, while the latter works to ensure that disabled students can participate and thrive in the education system.

Benefits of Education

More than just knowledge for its own sake, education holds many vital benefits for disadvantaged children, including:

Nutrition: For the many children struggling with food insecurity, school meals provide essential nutrients and alleviate daily hunger.

Health and Disease Control: Schools provide children with clean water, disease-prevention training and education in good hygiene practices, all of which are vital for keeping vulnerable populations healthy and disease-free.

Gender Equality: Continued education empowers girls, lowers risk of exposure to domestic violence and increases employment opportunities. Furthermore, educated women tend to have children later, leading to healthier children who are less likely to become trapped in poverty.

Poverty Cycle: Secondary and tertiary education prepare adolescents to pursue better-paying, more personally-fulfilling careers. This is a vital first step in breaking the poverty cycle.

A Personal Account

In an interview with the Borgen Project, a young Vietnamese woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, discussed the relationship between education and poverty in Vietnam. The interviewee, who will soon begin a Master’s degree, grew up in Vietnam’s largest metropolitan area. There, she gained insight into both the country’s disparities and the differences between education in Vietnam and developed nations.

She stated that most people who enter the Vietnamese school system stop attending around age 15, when it is legal to enter the workforce. She also noted that her family prioritized her brother’s education, despite his poor academic performance. Only in light of her own demonstrated academic abilities, she recalled, did her parents allow her to continue her education.

Furthermore, the interviewee explained that many rural Vietnamese receive no education at all due to difficult commutes, lack of government support and families’ inability to afford even basic necessities.

The Road Ahead

Alongside UNICEF, the Hanoi-based charity Project Sprouts has been working to break such barriers to education. Complementing UNICEF’s initiatives, it provides clothing, school supplies and household essentials to Vietnamese children, families and teachers in need. Although the road ahead is long, progress is on the horizon. (borgenmagazine)