EDCOM 2 to visit, look for best practices in Vietnam

The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) will conduct a study visit to Vietnam from March 21-24, 2024. The Commission seeks to learn from Vietnam's education sector in the following key areas:

Improving access, equity, and opportunity

Attracting and supporting qualified teachers

Strategic use of assessments

Effective governance and efficient financing of education

EDCOM 2, the Congressional body created through RA11899, is tasked to undertake a comprehensive national assessment and evaluation of the performance of the Philippine education sector. In the next three years, it will also recommend legislation that aims to address the education crisis in the country. As part of this mandate, the Commission conducts study visits around the country, as well as abroad, in an effort to learn best practices and key strategies to pursue in order to uplift the quality of education in the Philippines.

"We want to learn from Vietnam because its stage of economic development and level of education spending are not far from ours, and yet their learners are way ahead of ours. Looking at Vietnam's example, we particularly want to learn how we can be efficient with our spending to improve learner outcomes," Senator Win Gatchalian, Co-Chairperson of EDCOM II said.

While Vietnam is in a similar economic phase as the Philippines, it performed better in the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Vietnam's average score (468) was way above the Philippines' (353), despite the former spending roughly the same amount in education as a proportion of GDP. The Philippines spends an equivalent of around P55,000 on average per learner every year from Kindergarten until the age of 15. The same factor in Vietnam is P69,000.

"We want to learn from our Vietnamese neighbors to find answers to questions such as: "How do we invest better in teacher development?', 'What are possible solutions to delivering timely learning resources and learner assessments?' and 'How could we more strategically invest in improving learning outcomes?'", said EDCOM 2 Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee. "Learning from our neighbors first-hand is essential in ensuring that we find realistic and implemetable solutions to address the learning crisis in the Philippines".

The Commission also hopes that this visit will lead to increased collaboration and exchanges between the Philippines and Vietnam, especially in the realm of education.

The Philippine delegation to Vietnam will include EDCOM 2 Co-Chairpersons Senator Sherwin Gatchahlian and Representative Mark Go, as well as Commissioner Rep. Jose Francisco "Kiko" Benitez. Traveling with them are Advisory Council member Mr. Alfredo Ayala, and Standing Committee members Dr. Jennie Jocson, Dr. Marie Therese Angeline P. Bustos, Mr. Elvin Ivan Uy, and Mr. John P. Sevilla.

EDCOM 2 will meet with key officials on education reform, including the Vietnam National Assembly Committee of Culture and Education, and Vice-Chair of the National Assembly, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hai. The Commission will also conduct a roundtable discussion on Vietnam's education system with the Ministry of Education and Training's officials and specialists, led by Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Phuc.

EDCOM 2 will also visit public pre-primary, primary, secondary, and high schools in Hanoi. It will also conduct a focus group discussion with Filipino teachers in Vietnam, and meet with RMIT University Vietnam. The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) opened a branch of the Australian university in Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, and Da Nang - the first completely foreign-owned university granted permission to operate in the country.

Recent discussions about changes to the 1987 Constitution also dealt with foreign ownership of educational institutions - particularly higher education institutions. EDCOM II Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee previously underscored the need to clearly set the government's vision and targets in opening up education to full foreign ownership, citing other ASEAN countries as examples where generous government incentives were rolled out and adjusted policies to attract the best international institutions.