A Silhouette of Vietnamese Shadow Education : Credential Culture, Historical Legacies, and National Examinations

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the extent to which socio-historical processes of Vietnamese education have influenced contemporary structures of education. Such contemporary structures of education include the development of private supplementary tutoring, also known as shadow education. Through research literature and an internship practicum experience, this paper illustrates The Olympia School's Enrichment program, as a format of shadow education, and a result of historical processes that have emphasized national examinations and credential culture, inhibiting students' critical and creative thinking abilities. This opens a larger discussion on the contemporary crisis of education in Vietnam through class reproduction and supply and demand that affect the quality, inequality, and accessibility of Vietnamese education. This paper finds that the Vietnamese education system needs serious attention, as the intellectual homogeneity ^ that has resulted from national examination and credentialism weakens the nation's ability to grow and prosper economically and socially.