key findings from the 2016-17 young lives school survey in vietnam

Beyond the Basics:

Upper secondary education in Vietnam

Key findings from the 2016-17 Young Lives

school survey

Caine Rolleston (UCL Institute of Education)

Padmini Iyer (University of Oxford)

SEAMEO RETRAC, 28.11.17 Hanoi, 01.12.17

Introduction to Young Lives

YOUNG LIVES: INTRODUCTION

Longitudinal survey of children, their

households, schools and communities

running for 15 years from 2002

12000 children in four countries –

Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh &

Telangana), Peru, Vietnam

Combines data collection, analysis and

policy engagement

• To improve understanding of the causes

and consequences of childhood poverty

• To improve policies and practice for

children

Two age cohorts in each country:

• 2000 children born in 2000-01

• 1000 children born in 1994-95

YOUNG LIVES SCHOOL SURVEYS

Primary school surveys:

implemented in Vietnam (2011-12)

and Ethiopia (2012-13)

School effectiveness:

• Cognitive tests at beginning and end

of school year

• Background instruments and

psychosocial measures to

contextualise learning progress

2016-17 school surveys: conducted in

Ethiopia, India and Vietnam

YOUNG LIVES SCHOOL SURVEYS: VIETNAM

Primary school survey (2011-12)

• 3284 Grade 5 pupils

• 56 schools, 92 school sites

• Progress in Maths and Vietnamese in Grade 5

YOUNG LIVES SCHOOL SURVEYS: VIETNAM

Secondary school survey (2016-17)

• 8740 Grade 10 students

• 52 schools, 220 classes

• Progress in Maths and English in Grade 10

• Problem solving and critical thinking skills

YOUNG LIVES VIETNAM SAMPLE

Pro-poor sample

Sites purposively selected in 2000 to

reflect country diversity, rural-urban,

livelihoods, ethnicity; roughly equal

numbers of boys and girls

20 sites (communes) in 5 provinces

2016-17 SCHOOL SURVEY SAMPLE

14 Young Lives districts

All upper secondary schools in each

district

Sampling approach:

• Schools with 1-5 G10 classes: all

classes included

• Schools with >5 G10 classes: 5

classes randomly selected


52 upper secondary schools

220 G10 classes

48 government schools

4 private schools (3 in

Hung Yen, 1 in Da Nang)

Average G10 class size: 40,1 students

44% schools have 1-5 G10

classes


8740 G10 students

Drop-out in Grade 10:

Between 1% (Da Nang) &

12% (Lao Cai)

Kinh: 87,8%

Mông: 4,4%

Dao: 2,8%

Giáy: 1,6%

Girls: 50,2%

Boys: 49,8%


0

20

40

60

80

100

BT1 BT2 DN1 DN2 DN3 HY1 HY2 LC1 LC2 LC3 PY1 PY2 PY3 PY4

Perc

enta

ge o

f st

udents

Majority Kinh Ethnic minority Missing


-2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

BT1 BT2 DN1 DN2 DN3 HY1 HY2 LC1 LC2 LC3 PY1 PY2 PY3 PY4Wealt

h index

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Who makes the transition to upper

secondary school?

2. Are upper secondary schools in

Vietnam providing a ‘21st century’

education?

3. How are experiences of upper

secondary school affected by ethnic

status?

4. How do learning outcomes among 15

year olds in Vietnam compare to

those in Ethiopia and India?

1. Who makes the transition to Grade 10?

WHO MAKES THE TRANSITION TO GRADE 10?

The basic education system in Vietnam has achieved both

mass access and high learning outcomes over the past 20

years

Expanding access to upper secondary education is key to

‘skilling up’ Vietnam’s young people, so that the country

can ‘move up the value chain’ in economic terms (World

Bank 2015)

Access to upper secondary education has expanded rapidly

in Vietnam, but enrolment among e.g. ethnic minorities is

low


Our analysis –

Comparison of 1031 Young Lives children in Grade 10 in

2016-17 and 300 Young Lives children eligible for Grade 10

but out of school in the same year

Probit regression model: probability of being enrolled in

Grade 10 in 2016

GRADE 10 CHILDREN: MORE ADVANTAGED THAN

CHILDREN WHO DO NOT TRANSITION TO GRADE 10

GRADE 10 CHILDREN: HIGHER MATHS ABILITY AT AGE 12

THAN CHILDREN WHO DO NOT TRANSITION TO GRADE 10

PROBABILITY OF BEING ENROLLED IN GRADE 10

VARIABLES

(1)

Grade 10 enrolment

without prior test scores

(2)

Grade 10 enrolment

with prior test scores

Female 0.108*** 0.0938***

(0.0227) (0.0214)

Ethnic minority -0.109** -0.0330

(0.0498) (0.0470)

Main caregiver's education

(6 or more years)0.176*** 0.137***

(0.0303) (0.0291)

Wealth index, 2013 0.658*** 0.443***

(0.116) (0.109)

Maths score, 2013 - 0.00115***

(0.000132)

Observations 1,298 1,257

Controls included for site-level effects.

Standard errors in parentheses: *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1


Access to upper secondary education in Vietnam is not as

equitable as at earlier stages of education

In an equitable system in which access is purely

determined by merit, we would not expect wealth or

parents’ education to be significant predictors after

controlling for prior ability

Ethnic minority status is not a significant predictor after

controlling for prior ability – but lower test scores among

ethnic minority children may reflect disadvantage earlier

in the education system

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

-60.00 -40.00 -20.00 0.00 20.00 40.00 60.00

Sch

oo

l fee

s p

er G

rad

e 1

0 s

tud

ent

(VN

D, 0

00

s)

School value-added (conditional)

Ben Tre Da Nang Hung Yen Lao Cai Phu Yen

VALUE FOR MONEY?

2. Education for the 21st century?

EDUCATION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY?

Young Lives cognitive tests: designed to assess ‘meaningful

learning’ in:

• Maths

• Functional English

• Problem solving and critical thinking

‘Not just about acquisition of knowledge, but being able to

use this knowledge in a variety of situations’ (Mayer 2002)

21st century skills agenda: schools should ‘equip young

people with skills for future labour market or higher

education opportunities’ (World Bank 2009)


Maths tests:

Curriculum-linked, covering content

domains relevant to Vietnam

Assessed three different cognitive

domains: knowledge, application and

reasoning

Administered at the beginning and

end of Grade 10 measure of

learning progress

Developed by:

• Dr Phan Thi Luyen (Hanoi Experimental

School)

• Dr Nguyen Ngoc Tu (Hanoi Pedagogical

University)

• Educational Initiatives (India)

LEARNING PROGRESS: MATHS

Wave 1 score Wave 2 score Mean progress

500 527 27***



Girls 504 532 28***

Boys 497 523 26***



Ethnic minority 409 423 14***

Majority Kinh 509 536 27***

LEARNING LEVELS: MATHS

Level 1:

Low

Level 2:

Inte

rmedia

te

Level 3:

Hig

h

Level 4:

Advanced


Level 1:

Low

• Knowledge of basic

number concepts,

integers and rational

numbers

• Emerging ability to

apply knowledge of

number concepts,

fractions, basic shapes

and volume to solve

simple problems


Level 2:

Inte

rmedia

te

• Knowledge of algebraic and

geometric concepts and facts

• Emerging ability to apply

knowledge of algebra and

geometry to solve simple

problems

• Emerging ability to solve

simple problems in real-world

contexts


Level 3:

Hig

h

• Knowledge and understanding of

complex algebraic and

geometric concepts and facts

• Able to apply this knowledge to

solve single-step problems

• Able to use knowledge of

number concepts, ratios and

area to solve more complex

problems in real-world contexts


Level 4:

Advanced

• Knowledge of advanced

algebraic and geometric

concepts, facts and procedures

• Able to apply knowledge and

understanding of area,

perimeter, graphs and rational

numbers to go beyond solving

routine problems to encompass

unfamiliar situations, and multi-

step problems in real-world

contexts


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Boys Girls

Low Intermediate High Advanced


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Majority Kinh Ethnic minority



English tests:

English language skills increasingly

desirable for workplace readiness in

Vietnam

‘Functional’ English: application of

(reading) skills in real-life contexts

Administered at the beginning and

end of Grade 10 measure of

learning progress

Developed by Educational Initiatives

(Bangalore, India)

Reviewed by Vu Thi Thanh Huong

(Institute of Linguistics, VASS)

LEARNING PROGRESS: ENGLISH


500 509 9***



Girls 518 529 11***

Boys 479 485 6**



Ethnic minority 400 402 2

Majority Kinh 509 518 9***

LEARNING LEVELS: ENGLISH

Level 1:

Low

Level 2:

Inte

rmedia

te

Level 3:

Hig

h

Level 4:

Advanced

Level 1:

Low


• Able to identify

simple, familiar

vocabulary

• Emerging ability to

complete simple

sentences correctly

Level 2:

Inte

rmedia

te


• Able to construct simple

sentences, including the use

of appropriate grammatical

concepts

• Able to understand

explicitly stated information

from factual passages

Level 3:

Hig

h


• Able to identify the meaning of

unfamiliar words from their use

in a sentence, and to identify

antonyms and synonyms

• Able to understand explicitly

stated information from simple

stories

• Emerging ability to understand

implicit inferences

Level 4:

Advanced


• Able to construct complex,

multi-clause sentences and to

use appropriate grammatical

concepts

• Able to read and understand a

range of texts, including

complex stories and posters

• Able to understand both

explicitly stated facts and

implicit inferences


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Boys Girls



0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%




Problem solving and critical thinking

tests:

Limited evidence in Vietnam on

extent to which young people have

these ‘higher order cognitive skills’

required for 21st century labour

market

Tests adapted from PISA 2003 and

CWRA+

Administered at the end of the year

(cross-sectional measure of

performance, not progress)

PROBLEM SOLVING: EXAMPLE ITEM

Each stop you pass through

costs 1000 dong.

The time taken to travel

between stops is 2 minutes.

The time taken to change

from one bus route to

another is 5 minutes.

There is ONE route between Point A and B that is best in terms of both cost & time.

(1) How much will the fare cost for the best route between Points A & B?

(2) What is the journey time for the best route between Points A & B?

Partial credit: 48%

Full credit: 24%

8000 dong

21 minutes

Below Level 1: Weak or emergent problem solvers

Level 1: Basic problem solvers

Level 2: Competent problem solvers

PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS

%14.8%

%42.7%

%42.5%


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Boys Girls

Weak or emergent Basic Competent


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


Weak or emerging Basic Competent

CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

%25.1%

%35.6%

%39.2%

Level 1: Emergent critical thinkers

Level 2: Basic critical thinkers

Level 3: Competent critical thinkers


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Male Female

Emergent Basic Competent


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


Emergent Basic Competent


Are students being prepared for a 21st century labour market?

46% of students in our survey demonstrate ‘meaningful learning’ in

Maths – i.e., they are able to apply their knowledge and

understanding in unfamiliar contexts

40% of students demonstrate levels of English proficiency that

suggest they would be able to function in a labour market context

15-36% of students demonstrate competent problem-solving and

critical-thinking skills

English language skills and ‘higher-order’ cognitive skills among

Vietnamese young people are not yet sufficient for a 21st century

labour market?

3. Ethnic minority experiences of upper secondary school

ETHNIC MINORITY EXPERIENCES

Ethnic minority students are not additionally disadvantaged by

their ethnic status in terms of accessing upper secondary school

(when controlling for prior ability)

But they are performing at significantly lower levels than majority

Kinh students in Grade 10

We therefore examine descriptive statistics from the school survey

to understand the extent to which ethnic minority experiences of

Grade 10 are different from their majority Kinh peers

STUDENTS LIVING AWAY FROM HOME

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%


Lives away from home during term time

DROP-OUT DURING GRADE 10

0

5

10

15

20


Perc

enta

ge o

f st

udents

Dropped out of school

ACADEMIC SUPPORT AT SCHOOL (MATHS)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

BT sites DN sites HY sites LC sites PY sites

Perc

enta

ge o

f st

udents

Teacher setshomework 3 ormore times perweek

Teacherfrequently oralways checkshomework

Teacherfrequently oralways providescomments onhomework

ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE SCHOOL (MATHS)

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4


Num

ber

of

hours

Extra classes at school Private tuition outside school

Sample mean - extra classes Sample mean - private tuition

ETHNIC MINORITY EXPERIENCES

Clear differences between ethnic minority students’

experiences of upper secondary school in Lao Cai and

experiences of majority Kinh majority students in other YL

sites

But EM students don’t necessarily receive a poor quality

education while Grade 10 – students report high levels of

teacher engagement and support

‘Catch-up’ effect in Grade 5 - ethnic minority students making

more progress in one year - not observed in Grade 10

Suggests that gaps open up between ethnic minority and Kinh

students in lower secondary school?

4. Learning outcomes in Vietnam, India & Ethiopia

CROSS-COUNTRY LEARNING OUTCOMES

2016-17 Young Lives school surveys were also conducted in

India and Ethiopia

Using cross-country ‘anchor’ items, the Maths and English

tests were designed to allow international comparisons

between the three countries

What can we say about learning progress among 15-year-

olds and school effectiveness in the three countries?

0.0

02

.004

.006

200 400 600 800

ET 1 IN 1 VN 1

ET 2 IN 2 VN 2

COMPARING LEARNING PROGRESS IN MATHS

COMPARING SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS

CROSS-COUNTRY LEARNING OUTCOMES

In Maths, students in the Young Lives Vietnam school survey:

• Outperformed almost all students in YL Ethiopia school survey

• Outperformed around half the students in YL India school survey

Within-country gap in learning outcomes between ethnic

minority and Kinh students is considerable…

…but by international standards, ethnic minority students in

Vietnam are performing at a reasonable level and attending

fairly effective schools

Conclusions

CONCLUSIONS

Education for the 21st century?

High performers in Maths – but only

around half the students in our survey

demonstrated the ability to apply their

mathematical skills in unfamiliar

contexts

Not just ‘rote-learners’ – good

performance on problem solving and

critical thinking tests – but more work to

be done to determine whether teachers

are actively encouraging the

development of these skills

Fairly low English language (reading)

skills – needs to be addressed if

Vietnamese young people are to

complete in an ASEAN / global labour

market?

CONCLUSIONS

‘Leaving No-one Behind’ in Vietnam?

The majority have access to good quality

basic education in Vietnam

Ethnic minority students are not

significantly disadvantaged in terms of

access to post-basic education when

controlling for prior ability – but lower

prior scores reflect disadvantage earlier on

Need to ensure fair access to upper

secondary education and quality learning

outcomes for ethnic minority students

This in turn affects transition to higher

levels of education and better labour

market outcomes

Thank you!

Any questions or comments?

Email:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Twitter:

@caine_rolleston

@padmini_iyer