He made the remarks while chairing a meeting in Hanoi on Tuesday to review one year of implementing Politburo Resolution 71 on breakthroughs in education and training.
Priority must be given to remote, border, island and ethnic minority areas, while addressing school overcrowding in urban areas, industrial zones and localities experiencing rapid population growth, Mr. Lam said.
“Our overarching goal is to ensure that no student’s learning opportunities are limited by a shortage of schools, classrooms or teachers, and that a child’s educational quality and future are not overly determined by where he or she is born and raised. Ensuring equitable access to quality education must be one of the key indicators for evaluating the implementation of Resolution 71,” he added.
The Party leader urged genuine reform from within the education sector, encompassing school governance, the teaching workforce, curricula, teaching methods, examinations, and assessment systems.
“This is a particularly important requirement following the 14th National Party Congress. We must simultaneously address two challenges: rapidly improving the overall skill level of the workforce and developing strategic technology talent in fields that will determine the country’s future competitiveness,” he said.
“At the same time, stronger policies are needed to identify, nurture, attract, utilize and reward talent. We must establish a coherent chain linking workforce demand forecasting, enrollment, training, research, businesses and employment.”
Party leader and President Lam emphasized that universities must become true centers of talent development, scientific research, and innovation, generating new knowledge and technologies. He added that vocational education should be closely aligned with business and labor market needs in order to produce a highly skilled workforce.
