Attending the conference were Mr. Nguyen Kim Son, Member of Central Party Committee, Minister of Ministry of E&T; representatives of leaders from Ministries, Central Departments, and Agencies; leaders from 13 provinces and cities as well as universities and Departments of E&T in the Mekong Delta region. Attending on behalf of Can Tho City were Mr. Le Quang Manh, Secretary of Can Tho City Party Committee; Mr. Pham Van Hieu, Standing Deputy Secretary of Can Tho City Party Committee; Chairman of Can Tho City People’s Council; Mr. Tran Viet Truong, Chairman of Can Tho City People’s Committee; Mr. Nguyen Thuc Hien, Vice Chairman of Can Tho City People’s Committee.

At the conference

According to Minister of E&T Nguyen Kim Son, after the 13th National Party Congress, the Central Party Committee has paid special attention to regional development, setting out appropriate directions, policies, and solutions to promote the potential and strengths for each region in overall national development. The Politburo has issued six Resolutions for developing six regions including Resolution No.13-NQ/TW dated April 2nd, 2022 on economic-social development orientation ensuring national defense security in Mekong Delta until 2030 with a vision towards 2045 which identified viewpoints, goals, tasks, and solutions that are extremely significant in exploiting, effectively promoting potential, advantages for Mekong Delta with its strategic position and role regarding economy, culture, society, environment, national defense, security, foreign affairs for the entire country. Therefore this conference was organized to discuss deeply, evaluate accurately the situation, and unify solutions for developing E&T in the region thereby contributing significantly to implementing goals, and tasks set out by Resolution No.13-NQ/TW from Politburo. That is by 2030, 75% of preschool education facilities, 70% of primary education facilities, 80% of lower secondary education facilities, and 90% of upper secondary education facilities will meet standards; develop a university network and expand colleges, vocational schools, vocational education institutions; prioritize investment, develop high-quality multi-disciplinary universities, colleges, vocational education centers; focus on health science, engineering, technology, digital economy fields; develop Can Tho City into national regional level education-training center…

According to the Ministry of E&T, the education and training system in the Mekong Delta region continues to maintain stability and develop in terms of the scale of the school network, classes, and the number of students from preschool to university. They have been reviewed and arranged in a manner that is appropriate to the social needs of professions and diverse types of education. The fields of study and levels of education are being maintained and developed in terms of scale, quantity, and quality. The quality of universal education (UE) and literacy eradication (LE) is ensured and given attention alongside the investment in high-quality education. The quality of tertiary education is maintained and improved every year.

The conditions for ensuring the quality of education are close to the national average. Despite many difficulties, the Mekong Delta region still has some indicators of E&T that are at or above the national average. The number of accredited educational institutions is increasing. From having only Can Tho University in the early 21st century, now 10 out of 13 provinces and cities have universities. The remaining provinces all have branches of universities or have plans to invest in them.

The results show that the provinces/cities have fully implemented the mechanisms and policies for the development of E&T as prescribed by the central government. The education sector has always received the attention and guidance of the Party Committee and local authorities, from the province, and district to the grassroots level; specification to implement and adapt to the local context and to achieve the goals and strategic tasks of the development of E&T in the period 2011-2020.

The network of schools and classes has been reviewed and arranged increasingly rationalized and aligned with the direction of socio-economic development. Many investors have been attracted to establish universities in provinces in the region with 6/17 universities and 2/4 branches. The infrastructure and teaching equipment have been strengthened, ensuring the basic implementation of preschool and general education programs. The teaching staff and education management officials have a higher level of qualifications, trained according to the provisions of the 2019 Education Law, exceeding the government's target for 2025. The teaching staff and education management officials are being cared for to improve their basic quality to meet job requirements.

The results of universalizing early childhood education for 5-year-old children, primary education, and lower secondary education have been strengthened and maintained with improved component indicators. The quality of education has undergone positive transformations. The overall quality of education has been maintained and has undergone changes, narrowing the gap gradually with other regions in the country and the Mekong Delta region. The results of achieving the indicators, objectives, tasks, and development strategies of E&T for the 2011-2020 period regarding educational access; ensuring the quality of E&T; and the quality of E&T for different levels of education in local areas have met the requirements for renewal. Many indicators have increased significantly compared to the previous period and have approached or reached the national average level, reflecting the efforts to overcome the limitations and difficulties of the Party committees, governments, and educational management agencies in the region.

Despite the achievements, there are still some difficulties and limitations, such as the low enrollment rate of children in schools, the lower proportion of students in high schools attending school at the correct age compared to the national average, the number of schools with national standard facilities and teaching equipment at different education levels is still much lower than the national average, the educational infrastructure network is not fully covered in some areas, and despite the investment concern, the facilities and teaching equipment have only met the minimum requirements for implementing preschool and high school. The proportion of degraded classrooms is still high, and the proportion of schools meeting national standards is still low. There is still a shortage of local teachers in lower secondary education and upper secondary education institutions…

Mr. Tran Viet Truong, Chairman of Can Tho city People's Committee, delivered a speech

At the conference, Mr. Tran Viet Truong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, stated that in recent years, the network of schools from preschool to university in Can Tho City has been arranged appropriately and developed in terms of scale, fields, diversity of educational types, and training. The investment of state budget and mobilization of social resources for the cause of E&T are increasingly raising; the infrastructure and teaching equipment are gradually invested in accordance with standards and advanced techniques, with the proportion of schools meeting national standards reaching 76.06%; the work of fostering, training, and standardizing the teaching staff and management staff at all levels of education has reached the basic level and met the requirements of implementing the fundamental and comprehensive renovation of E&T. The popularization of education at all levels has achieved many positive results…

According to the Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, in the coming time, the city will continue to adhere to the Party's and State's guidelines and policies, and implement effective solutions to attract the maximum amount of domestic and foreign investment capital; the city will also expand its network and develop education at all levels, diversify educational models to meet standards and be suitable for the city's socio-economic development orientation; the city will ensure fairness in access to education, and continue to secure financial resources and physical infrastructure for the development of education to meet the learning needs of the people in the city and the Mekong Delta region; the city will enhance the quality of training and development for teachers and education managers at all levels to meet the comprehensive requirements for innovation in the E&T sector; the city will also strengthen digital transformation in education. Moreover, the city will continue to improve the quality of education at universities and colleges in the area to meet the national standards for education quality and gradually approach regional and global quality accreditation standards; the city will expand relationships and actively integrate internationally in various fields, seeking international support to enhance the quality of education and scientific research; the city will review social needs to adjust and supplement training programs that are relevant to the practical needs of the labor force in the region, and meet the learning needs of students, businesses, organizations, and localities, the city will make effective contributions to the high-level human resource training program, talent development, and scientific research to serve the city and the Mekong Delta's socio-economic development.

Within the framework of the conference, the delegates also focused on discussing and proposing effective solutions revolving around some issues such as planning the network of schools, classrooms, and investing in teaching facilities and equipment; ensuring the teaching staff to implement the preschool education program, the new general education program; issues regarding the policies and regulations for learners and educators; and the issue of training high-quality human resources to serve the socio-economic development of provinces in the region;…

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that the Ministry focused on intellectual development in the Mekong Delta region by increasing the proportion of university students and expanding the educational institutions.

In the concluding speech of the conference, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son evaluated that the E&T sector in the Mekong Delta region has made significant progress over the past 10 years, achieving many important results. In terms of quality, the Minister of Education and Training evaluated that the high school graduation rate in the Mekong Delta region ranked second out of six regions in the country, despite facing many difficulties. This shows that education in the region is no longer a lagging sector, but has risen to the national average level, with some outstanding aspects.

The Minister emphasized the urgent need to solidify schools and invest in equipment and subject classrooms. Regarding planning, and arranging the network of schools, it is necessary to develop comprehensive programs, plans, and suitable solutions for the riverine terrain of the Mekong Delta region. When building schools, it is necessary to consider choosing suitable school models that fit the natural conditions, aiming towards a school model that is close to nature.

For the Mekong Delta region, Minister Nguyen Kim Son believes that setting the goal of raising the intellectual level of the people is a specific requirement. The improvement of the intellectual level is seen as an important task, followed by the development of high-quality human resources, alongside the development of the university system and an increase in the university enrollment rate. Minister Nguyen Kim Son recommends that localities focus on coordinating with the Ministry of Education and Training and other relevant ministries and sectors to propose investment policies, and solutions to overcome difficulties and limitations and express confidence that the entire Mekong Delta region will bring E&T along with its development at a better pace in the future.