From mass education to challenge of building “elite universities”
The Party leader's vision comes at a time when the global labour market is undergoing profound structural change. According to the latest Future of Jobs Report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), rapid technological advances and the rise of artificial intelligence will reshape 22% of today's jobs by 2030, while 40% of workers' core skills will require retraining to meet new demands. Analytical thinking remains the most sought-after skill, followed by adaptability, creative thinking, and digital proficiency.
International experience also demonstrates that this is the pathway taken by countries that have successfully transformed their economies. Institutions such as KAIST in the Republic of Korea, which has produced thousands of patents; Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, the birthplace of more than 120 technology unicorns; and Tsinghua University in China, which supplies core talent to many of the world's leading technology companies, all share a common formula: nurturing elite talent closely linked to strategic technologies, with strong and sustained support from industry.
In Viet Nam, this vision is clearly reflected in Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW, which sets out strategic orientations and measurable targets for developing “elite universities” and “training a workforce capable of mastering core technologies”. However, translating this long-term vision into reality requires pioneering models and institutions willing to experiment before successful approaches can be replicated on a broader scale.
The organisation has launched university programmes that anticipate market demand in areas including information security, data science, artificial intelligence, semiconductor microchips, automotive software engineering, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with the aim of building a robust workforce capable of supporting Viet Nam's strategic technological development.
At the same time, through the establishment of the Quantum AI & Cyber Security Institute, FPT has introduced a doctoral programme in advanced technologies, seeking to address national technological challenges in frontier fields such as quantum technology and artificial intelligence.
Using technology and data to ease administrative burdens
Addressing concerns over the heavy financial burden associated with education and examinations, as well as the persistence of an excessive focus on academic achievement, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam has called on the Ministry of Education and Training to reduce unnecessary administrative procedures and paperwork so that teachers can devote more time to professional work. He also stressed the need to establish a unified, regularly updated national education database.
Practical experience from several institutions has already produced encouraging results. When supported by a comprehensive roadmap and appropriate investment, technology has the potential to significantly reduce the administrative workload of teachers and education staff.
In higher education, Ha Noi University of Science and Technology's online management platform, eHUST, provides a noteworthy example. By fully digitalising administrative processes and adopting electronic documents and digital signatures across the institution, the system has freed more than 1,700 lecturers from cumbersome paper-based reporting requirements.
At the school level, integrating platforms such as K12Online directly with the Ministry of Education and Training's education database has enabled more than 400,000 teachers and school administrators to digitalise student records and electronic lesson plans, paving the way for a substantial reduction in unnecessary administrative procedures.
Technology is therefore becoming an effective assistant, helping shift the role of teachers from simply transmitting knowledge to nurturing students' capabilities, while restoring the profession's true academic and professional standing.
The experience gained from these pioneering initiatives suggests that combining governance reform, digital technology, and the active participation of the private sector in piloting digital education models, developing technological infrastructure, and cultivating elite talent for strategic technologies will be one of the key factors in achieving the objectives set out by the Party leader.
