Global Education Systems at a Crossroads: France Cuts Funding While Vietnam Reforms
Educational frameworks worldwide are navigating starkly different pressures. In France, essential community programs face potential collapse due to severe budget cuts, prompting widespread protests. Conversely, Vietnam is undertaking a comprehensive overhaul of its education laws, aiming to modernize its system, streamline bureaucracy, and boost innovation from primary schooling through the university level.
French Community Programs Face Existential Crisis
In France, the “popular education” or community learning sector is sounding the alarm, declaring that the current situation is “unsustainable.” Hexopée, a professional network for the sector, has launched an “Endangered Spaces” communication campaign, utilizing the recognizable style of WWF conservation ads to draw attention to the crisis.
The campaign, which ran from the summer through late November, highlights a critical lack of funding that threatens the survival of vital community resources, including recreation centers, neighborhood centers, and youth camps.
The alarm follows a massive mobilization on Saturday, October 11, when the Mouvement Associatif (Associative Movement), representing all non-profit sectors, organized over 300 rallies across the country under the same “It’s unsustainable!” slogan.
According to the Movement, budget cuts slated for 2025, following several already difficult years, have resulted in “500 liquidations and one thousand recovery plans” year-to-date. This figure represents double the rate of organizational failures seen at the same time in 2022.
Vietnam Modernizes Legal Framework for Education
In sharp contrast to the austerity measures in France, Vietnam is focused on systemic modernization. Presenting the law to amend and supplement the current Education Law, Minister of Education and Training, Nguyên Kim Son, stated the reform will implement recent Party resolutions while ensuring consistency with the amended 2025 Constitution and other current legislation.
The objective is to correct the shortcomings of the current law and update the legal framework to create an education system described as “open, focused on reality and market needs.” This new system will be grounded in practical learning, quality instruction and management, and widespread technological integration.
The reforms are also designed to promote a “learning society,” strengthen governance of the sector, encourage decentralization, and significantly increase the autonomy and accountability of educational institutions.
Streamlining Bureaucracy for Equitable Access
A major pillar of the Vietnamese reform involves administrative simplification. The plan includes eliminating at least 30% of non-essential investment conditions in education and slashing 30% of regulatory compliance costs.
This deregulation is intended to facilitate equitable access to education for all social groups and across all types of institutions. Furthermore, it aims to support the development of a skilled workforce capable of meeting the complex challenges of the global digital transformation.
While the draft law will establish guiding principles rather than specific administrative procedures—leaving detailed implementation to the government and the Ministry ofEducation—69 of the 126 current administrative procedures will be impacted. These changes will notably affect processes related to diplomas, institutional operating permits, accreditation, textbooks, and examinations.
Elevating Higher Education as an Innovation Driver
Separate amendments are also focused on the Law on Higher Education. According to Deputy Nguyên Dac Vinh, this part of the reform is designed to establish Vietnam’s universities as the “strategic driver” of the national innovation system.
The goal is to modernize university governance, implement a management model suited to the Vietnamese context, and strengthen the role of higher education in talent development, scientific research, and international outreach.
The draft law introduces several major innovations: recognizing higher education as a leading national actor; strengthening the legal autonomy of institutions while demanding increased transparency; modernizing public management through post-audits; and ensuring equal opportunities between public and private sector institutions.
The legislation also seeks to diversify funding sources, create a fair competitive environment, and establish incentive policies for high-performing institutions. A strong emphasis is placed on training the country’s intellectual elite while simultaneously meeting the demands for mass access to higher education and the evolving needs of the labor market.
