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.