Vietnamese Schools Are Teaching Everything Except Freedom

When it rains for several days in a week—like during Taiwan’s typhoon season—people might find themselves feeling more philosophical, pondering various life topics. At least, that has been true for me. Over this past week I caught myself unconsciously singing a Vietnamese lullaby that kept floating into my mind. The lyrics go something like this:

“There is this nailed wooden plank bridge, and there is also this shaking bamboo bridge.

Walking on the bamboo bridge may be difficult.

Yet, if you must walk on it, as your mother, I will walk along with you.

Together, you will go to school to study, while I will go out and deal with the world.”

I remember one of my earliest memories of my mother often singing this lullaby to help me fall asleep. Many Vietnamese mothers still sing this popular lullaby because it highlights the importance of education for their children.

Each mother likely carries this dream, as expressed in the lullaby: to confront the world’s challenges and to protect and guide her children, which enables them to pursue a better education and achieve an improved life in society. And so, the topic of education in Việt Nam gradually emerged in my thoughts.

Having a quality education, to this day, is still the ultimate goal that all Vietnamese parents want to have for their children. I often wonder how valuable the education in Vietnamese universities really is because it appears that many of my friends and relatives are sending their kids abroad for higher education.

The Flight Abroad

Việt Nam now sends nearly 250,000 Vietnamese students—from secondary school to the postgraduate level—to study abroad, making it Southeast Asia’s largest source of outbound international students, according to the latest comparable regional data. Many parents work hard to send their children to schools abroad rather than keep them at home. The question is unavoidable: why leave when your country has its own universities?

The numbers tell the story. Recent statistics from the Migration Profile 2023 reveal that up to 80% of self-financed Vietnamese students do not come back after completing their education abroad. Of the 220 medal winners at regional and international Olympiads produced between 2016 and 2024, 146 students—or 66%—chose to study overseas, with the majority deciding to remain abroad for work. Việt Nam invests in its brightest minds only to watch them leave.

Why, for more than 50 years after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, is the national education system still failing its citizens? The answer lies in what universities choose, or are forced, not to teach. Understanding the issue requires looking beyond individual schools to what the system demands.

The Fulbright Case: Censorship From Within

In July, news came out that Fulbright University Việt Nam (FUV) took down and then added back references to its core idea of “liberal education” on its official website. 

Fulbright is not a typical university in Việt Nam. It was created by Việt Nam and the U.S. to boost cooperation. This institution helps the former enemies to educate future generations. In late August 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Việt Nam affirmed that the Fulbright program “continues to make practical contributions to the development of friendship and cooperation between Việt Nam and the U.S.” And yet, the school censored itself over the words “liberal education.”

The recent public criticism of “liberal education” and “liberal arts” might demonstrate that universities in Việt Nam teach their students everything except liberty and academic freedom. The schools avoid any words linked to liberty. If people value liberty and academic freedom, why not embrace the term “liberal education”? This is especially relevant at private universities like Fulbright, a joint venture between Việt Nam and the U.S.

Should this American-led university, FUV, keep liberty as a core value? A key question is: Will Fulbright give up its core value of liberty due to public criticism of “liberal education”?

When FUV opened, I believe its founders embraced a mission most schools share: teaching liberty and freedom to the next generation. But in Việt Nam, even semi-foreign institutions like FUV cannot accomplish this goal. The state fears what an educated, independent mind produces. “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating,” as Kofi Annan said. That’s precisely what Việt Nam’s government aims to stop. They don’t ban schools outright. Instead, they gradually limit what schools can teach. Education becomes compliance. Liberty becomes heresy.

The Economic Suicide

The government limits academic freedom and refuses to teach liberty. Because of these restrictions, students must go abroad to learn and practice these values that are not available at home. Việt Nam is aiming for stronger economic growth by 2030 and 2045. Goals include double-digit growth and becoming a high-income country. However, restricting freedom for the next generation could hold back these ambitions. If a country’s youth fear “liberal education” or “liberal arts” because the ruling party does, how can it hope to achieve economic success?

And thus, students leave their home country to study abroad, where political will does not censor their education. When students can’t learn liberty at home, they learn it abroad—and then they leave, or they come back changed. Often, they don’t return at all. The human cost is staggering. A World Bank report highlighted that Vietnam loses about 10% of its skilled workers to emigration.

The ruling party in Việt Nam fears the word “liberal,” yet it risks losing the next generation that could help achieve its economic growth. How does a country progress when it fears the minds it needs? This is now a key dilemma that the Communist Party faces. It must address this issue to achieve the “New Era” its top leader envisions because it needs its youth and their liberal minds to achieve economic development. 

Any university’s merit comes from two things: academics and academic freedom. The question is then very direct: What does a university in Việt Nam teach?

The Unresolved Dilemma

“Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world,” said Nelson Mandela. The founders of FUV likely agreed with him when they opened the school. In Việt Nam, even a semi-foreign school like FUV finds it challenging to teach liberty and freedom to future generations. 

The lullaby we began with promised Vietnamese mothers that their children would study and go out into the world—protected, guided, prepared. Today, Việt Nam ensures they go out—just not into Việt Nam. That was never the mother’s dream.

The party must confront this: either teach liberty or lose the generation it needs to build the future with. There is no middle ground.