Phung Nguyen
English 112 D18
Professor William
December 10, 2014
Education System in Vietnam versus in America
“The United States system of education that has been created for students in Kindergarten through High School is the best educational system in the world. No exceptions. No disclaimers. No doubt. It is simply the best” (Pat Quinn). This means that in many other countries, especially developing countries, the education systems are still old, and Vietnam is one of those countries. Although Vietnam’s education system has improved, the limitations in cost, teaching methods and style of learning, and college admission examinations make Vietnam’s education system still backward.
First, cost is the biggest difference between
In contrast, teaching in Vietnam still use very old and out dated methods. Teachers expect students to listen to the lectures and do not discuss in class. “According to one Vietnamese educator students have traditionally been expected to sit down, shut up and listen” (Jeffrey Hays) demonstrates the teaching method in Vietnam. Usually, every teacher has a curriculum that is prepared before the beginning of class year. Students have to follow that curriculum. They just receive information from their teachers passively and do not question. Teaching methods in Vietnam limit independent and creative thinking of students. The traditional checking of knowledge in Vietnam is giving a quiz in the first fifteen minutes every class. Teachers randomly choose some students to go to the blackboard to check what they have learned from last class. With social subjects, such as history, geography, literature, students have to learn by heart what they take notes in class. Realizing the limitation of those methods, Vietnam is trying to change. Hays argues, “With the help of British, Australian and American educators, Vietnam is attempting to overhaul its education system and not put so much emphasis on rote learning and instead encourage students to think independently and even question authority” (web).
Finally, getting into colleges in United States is easier than in Vietnam. The U.S. education system lets high school students take