Chu Van An's statue in the Temple of Literature in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

The UNESCO commemoration shows international appreciation for Vietnam’s cultural and educational values, while promoting the goal of lifelong learning and education equality for all people. The 40th UNESCO General Assembly Meeting in November will issue a resolution on celebrating the world’s outstanding events and characters.

Chu Van An who died in 1370 was a brilliant Vietnamese teacher who devoted his life to a humanistic education philosophy regardless of his students’ wealth, and taught that learning goes hand in hand with practice, and lifelong learning contributes to society. His thinking influenced many Vietnamese generations and contributed to the regional development of humanistic values. His progressive educational perspective was close to the modern perspective, which UNESCO summarized as “learn to know, learn to do, learn to live together, and learn to be human”.