UNESCO recognition not only affirms the unique artistic value of heritage but also creates motivation for communities to maintain skills and professional know-how, while opening opportunities to promote Vietnamese culture. From UNESCO-inscribed heritages to the domestic heritage system, the need to build modern education programmes that integrate indigenous knowledge in ways appropriate to each cultural region has become urgent.
Practical experience in many localities with heritage shows that, alongside the promotion of heritage values for tourism, the transmission of ethnic cultural traditions is an effective solution for preserving distinctive identities.
Once listed by UNESCO as heritage in need of urgent safeguarding, xoan singing has been widely taught in schools and communities. Students learn ancient melodies and explore customs and rituals associated with xoan under the guidance of artisans. The active participation of the younger generation has helped bring xoan singing off the urgent safeguarding list while becoming a Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
In Bac Ninh, Quan ho folk singing taught at schools has formed a young generation of male and female singers. In Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, vi and giam folk song clubs help students become closer to the lyrics and customs of each locality.
In Dak Lak, the education sector and the cultural sector have coordinated to implement the programme “Bringing heritage into schools” within the system of ethnic boarding schools, creating conditions for students to access gong culture and learn about the music and customary laws of indigenous communities. Some schools have also introduced languages, scripts, music, and handicrafts into teaching, breathing new life into heritage. These models affirm the key role of education in cultural preservation. When organised in ways appropriate to regional characteristics and students’ age groups, younger generations will develop a respect and sense of responsibility towards heritage while contributing to the continuity and dissemination of traditional values in contemporary life.
In the context where traditional values are subject to many impacts, from grassroots levels to management agencies, there is a shared view that local education plays an important role. Many provinces and cities have opened classes to teach traditional crafts, incorporated heritage content into general education programmes, and organised extracurricular activities linked to indigenous cultural spaces.
However, local education programmes currently stop at a general framework, lacking specific guidance on content, duration, and teaching methods tailored to regional characteristics. In many schools, heritage education is mainly integrated or implemented in the form of extracurricular activities; educational institutions in ethnic minority areas still lack dedicated curricula and materials for heritage transmission.
From these limitations, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism needs to coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training to develop a framework programme for local education, clearly identifying the proportion of heritage- and traditional culture-related content in each area, especially in those with diverse heritage types or large ethnic minority populations. Integrating heritage into education needs to be designed according to regional cultural characteristics, in line with the value systems, customs, and beliefs of each community. Heritage education must be implemented regularly and systematically, aiming to form a network of schools connected with heritage. In addition, the digitisation of intangible cultural heritage should be accelerated, integrating standardised source materials into the new education programmes.
In response to UNESCO’s recommendations, education needs to play a proactive role in safeguarding traditional cultural values. Completing local education programmes must become a long-term task, laying the foundation for nurturing a love of national culture and a sense of responsibility for heritage protection among the younger generation.
