Introduction

Beyond Vietnam, it could be said that many religious communities have participated in the formal and informal national education of many countries over the course of history. Nevertheless, such participation of religious communities in national education primarily relies on the relationship between religious organizations and the states. For instance, the Catholic community played a pivotal role in education in France when the French state was closely associated with the Catholic Church at the time before the 1789 Revolution. To some extent, their churches functioned in a similar capacity as schools. However, France established a secular state  following the 1789 Revolution.  Its first secularization law was approved in 1882, followed by the Law of 1905 regarding the separation between the church and the state. Since then, the Catholic Church has been excluded from the national school system in France. Based on those secularization laws, the secular principle was tightly established in terms of national education, in that the French government played a role as a privileged provider of national education, while the Catholic Church paid attention to religious education within its purview. In other words, the Catholic Church was not allowed to participate in public education in France (Willaime, 2007). Some European countries and others have also adopted this secular model of state, particularly regarding the relationship between religion and national education.

Nevertheless, the separation degree between religious communities and national education has been variable in different countries. Even though their states are based on secular principles, certain Southeast Asian countries keep collaborations with religious organizations in national education activities. In other words, religious organizations are permitted to participate in national education under state legislation. For example, although Indonesia is a secular state, the 1989 National Education Act of Indonesia recognizes that the Madrasah (religious day school), one of three types of Islamic schools (the Pesantren; the Madrasah; and the Sekolah Islam) in this country, is a part of Indonesia’s national education system. As such, the Indonesian government takes responsibility to improve the quality of those schools better while remaining the Madrasah as a type of Islamic school (Zuhdi, 2006).

In the case of Vietnam, following the August Revolution of 1945, the State of Vietnam (in North Vietnam, then in unified Vietnam) has followed the model of a secular state and taken Marxism, a form of atheistic philosophy, as its primary ideology. However, regarding the relationship between religious communities and society, the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) and the State of Vietnam have strongly encouraged religious communities to participate in many aspects covering from society, and culture to education. Such encouragement of the State of Vietnam to religious communities is part of the State’s macro policy, which seeks to unite and take advantage of all social strata and religious groups for building and developing the nation (Nguyễn Đức Lữ, 2013b). The VCP and the State of Vietnam hold the opinion that as religious adherents are also state citizens, they can fulfill their civic responsibilities to the nation by helping to construct and develop it. For certain religious communities, participating in social development also aids them in pursuing numerous goals, including the successful implementation of religious morals and teachings as well as national patriotism. As a result, they consider this social engagement as a great opportunity to advance their religious values and consolidate their position in the society of Vietnam, which is now governed by communists.

Specifically, in terms of the education sector, intending to galvanize social forces to promote national education after Renovation, the VCP and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) have pursued the policy of socialization of education. Such policy has kicked off a salient legal background resulting in the engagement of various organizations, including religious organizations, in national educational activities. Vietnam is characterized by great religious diversity with 43 legal religious organizations, belonging to 16 different religions, and having an estimated 26.5 million believers, and many religious communities as such potentially provide an enormous resource for the development of national education in Vietnam. So, those religious groups are also considered in the policy of socialization of education over time. Engagement in national education is one of the strategies that religious organizations in Vietnam are using to not only enable their social responsibility but more importantly to revitalize their religious meanings and morals such as compassion, charity, equity, justice, and so on.

Against such background, this paper intends to present an overview of the perception of the VCP and the SRV toward the participation of religious organizations in national education after 1986. The paper then reviews the current activities of participants from religious organizations in the national education of Vietnam. Such activities will be demonstrated by statistics (school, class, teacher, attendance, major, and so on). Among the educational projects of religious groups, our writing turns the spotlight on participation in national educational activities done by religious organizations such as the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha, the Catholic Church, and some domestic religious institutions. Our writing finally tries to shed new light on what key challenges religious organizations have faced in the field of Vietnamese national education, and what significant advantages they would have owned to compete in such a field.

The Party and State Policies on Religion and Education After Đổi Mới

To renovate the country, in 1986, the VCP launched a reform agenda called Đổi Mới. In the matters of religious affairs, the VCP achieved a turning point that was marked by Resolution No. 24 dated 16 October 1990 On enhancing religious work in the new situation (Về tăng cường công tác tôn giáo trong tình hình mới). This Resolution foregrounds three key innovative points of the Vietnamese political system’s epistemology of religion. These points are: (1) Religion has existed for a long term; (2) Belief and religion are spiritual needs for a group of citizens; (3) Religious ethics has had considerable points that will be suitable for the construction of a new society in Vietnam (Nguyễn Đức Lữ, 2013a). This resolution demonstrates that the VCP has shifted its approach to religion from being mainly concerned with the ontological aspect of religions (the main question concerns what is religion and its nature) to a more pragmatic-functional (the main concern is what religions can contribute to the betterment of society and the diversity of cultures). In line with such an approach, the VCP focuses on investigating religious affairs from cultural and sociological viewpoints. Setting aside political-ideological concerns, religion has been viewed as a cultural and social phenomenon in the newly focused points of view of the VCP. Then, no longer restricted to the realm of spiritual life, religious groups are acknowledged as social organizations. The organizations as such are also expected to partake in nation-building and the betterment of society. This significant shift in the approach to religion of the VCP was codified into specific rules that have created fertile ground for religious communities to actively engage with and blossom in many social sectors.

In the education sector, the participation of religious communities in the national education system has been enabled in the course of the socialization policy that was implemented by the VCP and the SRV. The Objective of this policy is to galvanize all social forces into nation-building. At the national meeting in 1988, the Central Committee of Science and Education (Ban Khoa Giáo Trung ương) initiated the idea of a socialization policy and considered such a policy as a strategy to reform the education and science sectors (Phạm Giang, 2020). The 8th National Congress of the VCP in 1996 required the VCP and the SRV to particularize and legalize the policy on the socialization of education and training (Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam, 2015). To set up an explicit legal framework for this policy, the Vietnamese government issued Resolution No. 90/1997 dated 21 August 1997 whose regulations encompassed many areas from health, culture, and sports to education (Hayden & Chinh, 2020). This resolution set crucial legal guidance for several social organizations that have desired to engage in the educational field. Nevertheless, the role of religious institutions in such a field was modest in the 1990s. Though the Law on Education in 1998 regulated that every organization and individual was facilitated to develop education, the absence of special clauses to guide religious participation in national educational activities occasionally confused religious organizations. Only one clause, namely Clause 16, stated explicitly that religious propagation and practices were not allowed to happen in schools and educational facilities of the national education system (Quốc hội, 1998). In other words, this clause emphasized the SRV’s secular principle which was to separate religious bodies and the State concerning the provision of the national education system. Nevertheless, when put into practice in the context of Vietnam, such a principle does not manifest the extreme separation between the Church and the State. In reality, the SRV has remained neutral in that the SRV, guided by a collaborative spirit, can cooperate and work closely with churches, enable religious bodies to participate in many sectors including education, and set an equal legal status for either religiously inspired organizations or other socially engaged groups.

Through the implementation of Resolution No. 25 dated 12 March 2003 On religious work (Về công tác tôn giáo), the VCP boosted relevant government bodies to promote religious engagement in the socialization of education, healthcare, culture, and society. This participation, as the Resolution directed, must observe two principles. Firstly, the SRV encourages legal religious organizations to enter the education sector considering their principles and the State’s laws. Secondly, adherents of different faiths on behalf of citizenship are encouraged and facilitated to participate in educational activities (Ban Chấp Hành Trung ương, 2003). To legally specify such points of view of Resolution No. 25, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly launched the Ordinance on Belief and Religion (Pháp lệnh về tín ngưỡng, tôn giáo) in 2004. According to this ordinance, clergies and believers-cum-citizens were encouraged to organize educational activities under the law (Ủy ban Thường vụ Quốc hội, 2004). Moreover, the SRV would enable religious organizations to support the development of kindergartens and ensure the well-being of vulnerable children (Nguyễn Đức Lữ, 2013b). In addition, Decree No. 69/2008 dated 30 May 2008 On promotion policy on the socialization of education, vocational training, healthcare, culture, sport, and environment (Về chính sách khuyến khích xã hội hóa đối với các hoạt động trong lĩnh vực giáo dục, dạy nghề, y tế, văn hóa, thể thao, môi trường) affords religious organizations and individuals the chance to open vocational schools.

In recent times, religious participation in education has continuously come under the scrutiny of the government authorities of Vietnam. In an attempt to refine the draft of the Law on Belief and Religion (Luật Tín ngưỡng, Tôn giáo), in 2016, delegates of the National Assembly of Vietnam ever debated whether or not the law should specifically regulate the engagement of religious bodies in education. There emerged two arguments for this issue. On the one hand, most delegates suggested that the law could have specific articles to accord religious organizations equal participation in conducting educational activities as other social groups (Minh Thư, 2016). On the other hand, some delegates were concerned with potential consequences as the law allows religious institutions to participate thoroughly in the national educational landscape. Such open regulations would possibly lead to proselytization activities and religious rituals in the space of classrooms. These delegates thus suggested that if the Law on Belief and Religion was to be issued, it could not set any specific clause of religious participation in education. Instead, religious institutions should comply with regulations of laws on education while participating in the national education system. Following this supposition was deemed to create equality between religious organizations and other social ones (Minh Thư, 2016). The Law on Belief and Religion enacted on 18 November 2016 has eventually permitted religious engagement in the national education system, but such an engagement must adhere closely to relevant legal regulations (Quốc hội, 2016). Specifically, to be involved in the national educational field, religious bodies, and individuals must adhere mainly to the laws on education in Vietnam, not simply relying on the Law on Belief and Religion alone. Such laws are currently the Law on Education in 2019, the Law on Higher Education in 2012, the Law on Higher Education (revision) in 2018, and the Law on Vocational Education in 2014.

The above laws retain the secular education model in that the Vietnamese national education system operates under the control of the VCP and the SRV. The Secularization of the educational system explicitly rests on the principle that religious propagation and practices are forbidden in the classroom. The curriculum of schools within the national educational system does not also have any specific religiously related subjects. The State plays the role of a host in the national education system and only shares the provision of national education with individuals and groups who conduct educational activities on behalf of their civil rights, not as representatives of their faiths and churches. In other words, every educational enterprise in such a system must follow the laws and be under the direction of relevant governmental institutions. Religious individuals and organizations can freely participate in national educational activities, but the privilege of management of educational activities and curriculums of schools belongs to the State, not to the churches.

Recently, encouragement of participation from religious groups in the socialization of education has coincided with the emergence of the concept of “religious resources” (nguồn lực tôn giáo) which has evolved into one of the hegemonic discourses of religion in the official media and communication of the VCP and the SRV, and the Vietnamese official scholarship as well. This discourse stems from the fact that the VCP and the SRV retain the encouragement of values of religion and encourage religious communities to bring their resources into developing the country. The Political Report of the 13th National Congress of the VCP confirmed that cultural and ethical values of religions and resources of religions are encouraged to contribute to developing the country (Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam, 2021). To promote this direction of the 13th National Congress of the VCP, the project for supporting information and propagation on national and religious affairs (Đề án hỗ trợ thông tin, tuyên truyền về dân tộc, tôn giáo) was launched by the Prime minister of the SRV on 21 February 2019. To direct this project, the Central Propaganda and Training Commission (Ban Tuyên giáo Trung ương) of the VCP required the Designated Representation of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam to add information on ethnic and religious affairs to the curriculums of schools following each educational level (Ban Tuyên giáo Trung ương, 2021). Noticeably, the purpose of this project is not ultimately for the religious instruction of churches but rather to provide learners in schools with the guidelines of the VCP and the policies of the SRV on religious affairs. Furthermore, the instruction regarding religiously related subjects comes in the form of an academic exercise, rather than a confessional religious education based on the catechisms of the churches. The project as such may also be expected to build up respect for ethical and cultural values of religions among students and the general public.

Tapping the Potential Religious Resources in the Education Sector

In the context of religious diversity, many Vietnamese people are affiliated with various religious traditions, which, in turn, creates substantial manpower and resources for religious communities. According to the consensus of the Governmental Committee of Religious Affairs (Ban Tôn giáo Chính phủ), by December 2020 there were roughly 26.5 million religious followers which constituted 27% of the total population of Vietnam, and these adherents belonged to 41 state-recognized and licensed religious organizations of 16 different religions in Vietnam (Ban Tôn giáo Chính phủ, 2021). By December 2021, the total number of state-recognized religious organizations in Vietnam increased to 43. Having many followers gathered by religion-based networks, the religious bodies are certainly at a great advantage in terms of human and social capital. These institutions then can effectively mobilize their members to foster other capital resources such as finance, facility, and ethical values to support many of their activities including participation in national education.

In possession of potential resources, religious communities are also encouraged by the reformation policy of the VCP and the SRV to contribute to developing national education. In fact, in the early 1990s, based on the reform policy of the VCP and the SRV on religious affairs, religious organizations such as Buddhist Sangha and Catholic Church initially organized some volunteer-based literacy classes (lớp học tình thương) that targeted vulnerable children who were poor, orphaned, disabled, and homeless. In line with the socialization policy in 1997, religious organizations in Vietnam have had significant opportunities to participate in the national education sector. As the Ordinance on Belief and Religion in 2004 initiated specific regulations on religious participation in the national education sector, religious bodies have eagerly established new private kindergartens and volunteer-based literacy classes. After 10 years of enacting that ordinance, there was a surge in the number of private kindergartens and preschool classes established and operated by religious groups and individuals. The official consensus in November 2014 indicated that 269 kindergartens and 905 preschool educational groups and classes as such were formed. The number accounted for 14.7% of the total number of private kindergartens in the country in the same year (Ban Thường trực UBTWMTTQVN-Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo, 2014). These kindergartens and preschool classes were scattered largely in Southern provinces such as Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, Lâm Đồng, Đồng Nai, and Hồ Chí Minh. With more than 12,594 children, enrollment in such kindergartens and preschool classes constituted 3.06% of the total kindergarten enrollment in the country (Ban Thường trực UBTWMTTQVN-Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo, 2014). These educational bases have accepted children whose parents either belong to religious communities or non-religious ones (Ban Thường trực UBTWMTTQVN-Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo, 2014). In other words, the kindergartens and preschools of religious organizations and individuals provide equal educational opportunities and care to every child regardless of religious affiliation and family background. So, the religious status of individuals does not prevent them from receiving benefits from these educational facilities under the sponsorship of religious organizations and individuals.

Concerning personnel administration, teachers of these organizations as such were recruited from both outside and inside the religious communities. The teachers sign contracts with managers of kindergartens, but normally teachers who are not monks and nuns receive a monthly salary. Many teachers, who lead a monastic life, are willing to dedicate their time to work, unpaid. The pedagogical expertise of such teachers follows the standards and guidance of relevant government agencies under the direction of the Department of Education and Training and the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam.

Religious organizations such as the Buddhist Sangha and the Catholic Church even renounced their land property rights at many places to build private kindergartens. These organizations hold fund-raising events to improve the quality of care and education of children. In addition to raising financial funds inside their communities, the religious institutions also appeal to outside sponsors to be involved in support of educational activities. As a result, many kindergartens were built with an investment cost estimated to be dozens of billion VND. Many vulnerable children could have access to education in such kindergartens (Ban Thường trực UBTWMTTQVN-Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo, 2014). Thanks to the sponsorship of religious organizations and individuals, not only the quality but also the scale of many private educational facilities were enhanced. In 2014, such facilities had roughly 3,620 classrooms, and most of them met rigorous standards of solid structure construction and semi-solid structure construction (Ban Thường trực UBTWMTTQVN-Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo, 2014). Learning resources such as textbooks, teaching aids, educational toys, and pieces of equipment have been used to teach children under the criteria set by the Ministry of Education and Training. According to the evaluation of the relevant governmental agencies in 2014, ten kindergartens of religious organizations and individuals achieved the national preschool standard (Ban Thường trực UBTWMTTQVN-Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo, 2014).

Apart from establishing kindergartens, religious organizations have engaged in vocational training that yielded more skilled workers. There are around 12 vocational training schools run by religious organizations such as the Catholic Church and Buddhist Sangha. These schools are mainly scattered in the central and southern regions of Vietnam and offer long-term and short-term training programs in a wide range of vocations for thousands of learners (Nguyễn Hữu Bắc, 2021). Besides, there are many short-term vocational training classes run by religious organizations to enhance the working skills of laborers.

Main Religious Players in Vietnamese National Education

The Case of the Buddhist Sangha

During the period of the feudal dynasties of Vietnam, the education system mimicked the Chinese Confucian model where the Confucian literati played the main role. But in the context of the coexistence of Three Religious Teachings (Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism), many Buddhist clergies embracing Confucian doctrines also played a certain role in the education of intellectuals in society. Such monks and nuns were either preachers of Dharma or informal teachers to instruct cultural norms and morals (Nguyễn Công Lý, 2015). In the early half of the twentieth century, the Buddhist Sangha focused on Buddhist education as religious education rather than national education. In the years after 1954, specifically the years 1964 to 1975, Buddhist communities played a part in national educational activities from preschool, primary, secondary, and high schools to undergraduate levels in South Vietnam. While preschool facilities were situated in the Buddhist orphanage system, the primary, secondary, and high schools mainly belonged to the Buddha School System (Hệ thống trường Bồ Đề) (Minh Thạnh, 2010). The curriculum of these schools of the Buddha school system had to adhere to standards set by the Ministry of Education of South Vietnam at that time. The characteristic of such a curriculum was that teachers delivered one lesson or two lessons of Buddhist doctrine once a week in classrooms (Nguyễn Công Lý, 2019). At the undergraduate and graduate levels, the Buddhist Sangha in South Vietnam established Vạn Hạnh University (Viện Đại học Vạn Hạnh) in 1964 and appointed the Most Venerable Thích Minh Châu as the director of this university. At this university, there were many faculties in various disciplines that ranged from Buddhist Studies, Literature, Economics, Business Studies, Political Studies, and Sociology (Nha học vụ, 1973).

The above educational facilities of Buddhist communities were dissolved or nationalized after 1975. Along with the unification of the country, the VCP and the VRS mobilized monks and nuns of Buddhism in Vietnam to unite in an umbrella organization by the name of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) in 1981. Since then, the VBS has engaged in building the society with the motto “Dharma–Nation–Socialism” (Đạo pháp–Dân tộc–Chủ nghĩa Xã hội). Since the Đổi Mới epoch, the VBS has attempted to enter the educational landscape guided by the socialization policy of the VCP and the VSR, and the legacy of Buddhist pedagogical tradition in the past. In this process, Buddhist groups and individuals of the VBS have demonstrated the importance of support for the private education sector as they attended to constructing educational facilities and providing teachers to classrooms. Volunteer-based classes run by Buddhist monks and nuns have brought literacy to poor children since the 1990s. The VBS’s statistics in 1997 showed that Buddhist communities operated 196 volunteer-based literacy classes, 116 semi-boarding preschools, and classes for orphans and disabled children, with a total of 6,000 children. The number of volunteer-based literacy classes, which were operated by Buddhists, increased to 1,500 classes in 2002 (Nguyễn Thị Minh Ngọc & Thích Gia Quang, 2014). Besides teaching the Vietnamese Romanized script, monks and nuns of many pagodas also organized classes to teach Nôm script, which was the vernacular Vietnamese script emerging around the tenth century. Teaching this vernacular is to help people, especially the youth, understand classical texts related to certain cultural heritages in Vietnam.

Along with the volunteer-based literacy classes, the VBS has contributed to the expansion of vocational training. For instance, to resolve the problem of under-qualified laborers in Quảng Trị Province, the Buddhist Charity Committee of the VBS in this province launched Phùng Xuân Vocational Training Center in 1997 (Võ Thị Loan, 2018). This center aims at improving poor people’s working skills to make them more employable in the job market. Most graduated students from this center landed stable jobs and contributed to the total income of their families (Thích Đàm Huề, 2020). Apart from Phùng Xuân Vocational Training Center, Buddhists have operated two other vocational schools, Tây Ninh Vocational School and Long Thọ Vocational School, both of which have offered a six-month vocational training in areas such as tailoring, embroidery, home electricity, informatics, and so on.

Regarding the preschool system, since 2004, the VBS has expanded this system run by Buddhist groups and individuals. In the years from 2012 to 2017, Buddhists operated 64 semi-boarding kindergartens and educational facilities for orphanages and disabled children around the country. Among such educational facilities, Buddhist nuns in Thừa Thiên Huế Province organized 11 facilities to teach 1,700 children (Giáo hội Phật giáo Việt Nam, 2017). Buddhist contribution to educational activities has increased in recent years. The VBS assisted in opening nearly 2,000 volunteer-based literacy classes for orphans, homeless children, and disabled children in 2018. This religious organization also helped to build hundreds of semi-boarding kindergartens. Many Buddhist pagodas are either religious places or preschool facilities such as Long Hoa Pagoda (District 7 in Ho Chi Minh City), Diệu Giác Pagoda, Kỳ Quang 2 Pagoda (Gò Vấp District in Ho Chi Minh City), Quang Châu Pagoda (Hòa Vang, Đà Nẵng), Bảo Quang Pagoda (Hải Phòng), and so on (Ngô Văn Vũ & Tạ Thị Thu Hằng, 2020). Many volunteer-based literacy classes are a form of educational provision for children. For instance, a volunteer-based literacy class in Lộc Thọ pagoda (Nha Trang) with 140 pupils and 7 teachers, a volunteer-based literacy class in Kim Sơn Pagoda (Nha Trang) with 53 pupils and 3 teachers, Nụ Hồng Giác Hải kindergarten (Vạn Ninh) with 90 children and 5 teachers (Thích Nhuận Chương, 2020). Another typical educational base run by Buddhists is the Phật Quang Center of Social Charity. In 2002, this center opened three classes from first grade to third grade to teach 100 children. From 2006 to 2012, the center took care of and educated 120 children. In 2013, it established the Nhân Ái kindergarten which has been a free semi-boarding kindergarten (Thích Minh Nhẫn, 2017).

Especially, in 2012, the Buddhist Sangha of Long An Province formed the Bồ Đề Phương Duy School which was also the first private inter-level school run by a religious organization in Vietnam. This school, which is located in Long Thạnh Pagoda in Thủ Thừa town, has become a typical example of Buddhist participation in education in the Cửu Long Delta region. The curriculum of such a school follows the regulations of the national education system. In addition to compulsory subjects, students of Bồ Đề Phương Duy School are taught special subjects such as calligraphy, music of talented amateurs (đàn ca tài tử), martial arts, and tailoring. Thanks to sponsors, this school has offered free education to students in 12 classes at primary, secondary, and high levels. In the school year 2013–2014, the enrollment number in such classes reached 189 students whose situation was vulnerable (Trần Hoàng Hảo & Dương Hoàng Lộc, 2015:126). Though encountering a multitude of difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bồ Đề Phương Duy School still managed to deliver education to 169 students consisting of 85 children at the primary school, along with 38 pupils at the secondary school, and 34 pupils at the high school in the school year 2020–2021 (Lê Đại Anh Kiệt, 2021).

To enhance the professional expertise of preschool teachers, since 1992, the Central Committee of Social Charity of Buddhist Sangha has collaborated with the Saigon College to train pedagogical skills at the preschool level for 100 nuns and Buddhists who came from many different provinces (Thích Nữ Huệ Từ, 2017). As a result, these graduates then became managers or directly participated in teaching children in volunteer-based childcare facilities of Buddhist organizations. In 2014, the Vietnamese Buddhist Academy in Ho Chi Minh City in conjunction with the Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy launched a four-year undergraduate program for clergies and believers of Buddhism in the form of on-the-job training. To motivate Buddhist nuns to enroll in the preschool pedagogy program, seventy-five percent of the total tuition fee in such a program was sponsored by some Buddhist institutions of the Buddhist Sangha. In 2019, 49 Buddhist students graduated from this program and then were appointed as rectors or teachers of kindergartens (Thích Quang Thạnh, 2019).

The Case of the Catholic Church

Catholics had engaged in educational activities in the colonial period of Vietnam. Most schools that were run by the Catholic Church or Catholic individuals were private or semi-public at that time (Nguyễn Quang Hưng & Nguyễn Văn Chính, 2016). In 1861, the school by the name of Collège d’Adran was established by Admiral Charmer in Saigon. The purpose of this school was to educate indigenous intellectuals who could serve as interpreters of the colonial regime. In 1873, the colonial government set up another school by the name of Collège des Administrateurs Stagiaires with the rector being Petrus Trương Vĩnh Ký. In 1925, the Indochinese Governor-General established Collège Cochinchine in Saigon and subsumed it under the administration of Missions Etrangères de Paris (a Catholic missionary congregation). This school provided education at primary and high levels (Nguyễn Quang Hưng & Nguyễn Văn Chính, 2016). The role of the Catholic Church in the education system in South Vietnam was expanded after 1954. The Catholic Church’s consensus in 1962–1963 showed that Catholics operated 93 high schools with 60,412 pupils and 1,122 primary schools with 234,749 pupils (Vinh Sơn Nguyễn Cao Dũng SCJ, 2020). The Catholic Church even formed some universities such as Đà Lạt University in Lâm Đồng Province, Thành Nhân University, and Minh Đức University in Saigon (Vinh Sơn Nguyễn Cao Dũng SCJ, 2020). These schools and universities operated in the educational settings of the Ministry of Education of South Vietnam.

After 1975, as Vietnam was unified by and under the leadership of the VCP, the SRV took main responsibility for educational provision, thus carrying out the dissolution or the nationalization of the aforementioned Catholic schools and universities. A few of these educational facilities were then transformed into national educational schools under the new regime. Upholding the motto of “Living Gospel in the heart of the nation to serve happiness to the compatriot” (Sống phúc Âm giữa lòng dân tộc để phục vụ hạnh phúc của đồng bào), the Catholic Church in Vietnam has participated much more intensively in education activities after Đổi Mới. In the 1990s, the government allowed the Ho Chi Minh City Preschool Pedagogical Intermediate School to open training programs for Catholic nuns (Phanxicô Xaviê Đỗ Công Minh, 2020). Since 1993, in line with the course of the reform policy of the VCP on religious affairs, female Catholic orders (dòng tu nữ) in Vietnam have initiated private nurseries and preschool classes. These orders not only set up educational facilities but also boosted the training of teachers who were also Catholic nuns (Nguyễn Thanh Xuân, 2015). Given such a preparation, Catholic congregations formed numerous private kindergartens quickly and with very little effort since the Ordinance on Belief and Religion was enacted in 2004. At the end of 2004, Catholics operated around 675 kindergartens in most Catholic dioceses over the country. This number of kindergartens and volunteer-based literacy classes reached over 1,000 in 2015 (see Table 13.1). It is noticeable that the statistics of the Catholic Church by 2015 indicated that the Diocese of Ban Mê Thuột had 426 kindergartens and volunteer-based literacy classes, but this figure was seemingly not exact. According to the statistics provided by the Clergy Department of the Diocese of Ban Mê Thuột in 2018, this diocese had some volunteer-based classes, thirty kindergartens including one for children of leprosy patients in Ea Na, and two schools for disabled children and children having Down syndrome (Ban Tu sĩ Giáo phận, 2018).

Table 13.1 Number of kindergartens and volunteer-based literacy classes in Vietnamese Catholic dioceses
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Many Catholic nuns devote a great deal of effort to specialized education teaching vulnerable children. For example, since 1997, nuns of St. Paul de Chartres contributed to establishing Vi Nhân Specialized School in Buôn Mê Thuột Province. In the school year 2019–2020, this school had 200 pupils who were distributed to 16 classes. Such a school not only offers facilities for literacy learning but also provides vocational training in careers such as clothing tailoring, fine art paintings, massage, and sauna (Nguyên Hoa, 2019). In 2009, the Saint Paul congregation in Ho Chi Minh City opened Trúc Linh Center which has not only taught autistic children but also supplied training programs for teachers of such children. According to Nguyễn Phú Lợi (2021), there were 437 autistic children enrolled in this center and 305 of them finished preschool education.

Catholic congregations of nuns are a spotlight on Catholic participation in preschool education in Vietnam. Kindergartens run by Catholic nuns constituted 50 of 52 exemplary kindergartens that were honored by the government in 2014 (Phanxicô Xaviê Đỗ Công Minh, 2020). Some of the Catholic nun congregations devoted a huge amount of money to building kindergartens. For instance, the Sisters of Divine Providence (Hội Dòng Chúa Quan phòng) allocated 22 billion VND to build Sao Mai kindergarten in Ninh Kiều district of Cần Thơ City, and the Lovers of the Holy Cross (Dòng Mến Thánh giá) in Huế City spent 20 billion VND to set up Bích Trúc kindergarten (Ban Thường trực UBTWMTTQVN-Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo, 2014). The curriculum of kindergartens run by Catholic nuns also adopts a wholeness approach to education that consists of syllabuses holistically addressing various aspects of child development (physical, cognitive, linguistic, social emotion, and aesthetics). In terms of linguistic education, children are taught to follow the teacher’s guidance and enhance communication abilities, read short poems such as Three Girls (Ba cô gái), Friendship (Tình bạn), and stories (the Origin Tale of Watermelons (Sự tích quả dưa hấu), Gift of teacher (Món quà của cô giáo), etc.), and recognize and pronounce the alphabet as well. To develop Vietnamese literacy for children, teachers use textbooks such as “Children get used to the alphabet and practice letter painting” (Bé làm quen với chữ cái và tập tô chữ), and “Children recognize and get used to letters” (Bé nhận biết và làm quen chữ cái).

The Catholic Church is also one of the religious organizations that actively participate in providing vocational training programs in Vietnam. Currently, Catholic organizations operate around 52 vocational classes and 11 vocational schools of which there are 1 college, 2 intermediate schools, and 8 vocational centers (Nguyễn Phú Lợi, 2021). The college by the name of Hòa Bình Xuân Lộc College has been administrated by the Episcopal See of Xuân Lộc. Based on the motto “Promoting the Whole Person,” this college wishes to train students to become well-rounded individuals who are expected to benefit not only their families but also society through their skilled labor and professional ethics. In Hòa Bình Xuân Lộc College, there is a multitude of disciplines to educate students, both at intermediate and college levels. At the intermediate level, the students can enroll in majors that cover a wide range of areas such as computer engineering, fashion tailoring, hotel administration, tourism guidance, automotive technology, electric industry, and so on. At the college level, the students can select some majors which are automotive technology, electric industry, electronic industry, hotel administration, accounting business, and so on. From 2011 to 2017, Hòa Bình Xuân Lộc College trained over 4,000 students of which over 1,000 students graduated and had jobs (Lê Xuân, 2017).

To empower Catholic participation in educational activities, the Catholic Church in Vietnam has constantly encouraged Catholic congregations and individuals to contribute to education and considered such a contribution as a religious obligation of Catholics. In 2007, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Vietnam drafted the summon letter to confirm that the Catholic Church participated in expanding and developing education. In this letter, the Catholic Church in Vietnam confirms that they willingly contribute to developing the education sector of the country and consider education as an important means that fosters ethical, responsible, and caring youth (Vinh Sơn Nguyễn Cao Dũng SCJ, 2020). In 2009, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Vietnam formed the Committee of Education intending to promote Catholic participation in education at all levels. In 2014, the structure of such a committee was elaborated on its specialized departments that supported either religious education or secular education such as vocational training and preschool.

The Case of Domestic Religious Groups

Compared to the Buddhist Sangha and the Catholic Church, the participation of some domestic religious organizations such as Hòa Hảo Buddhism and Tịnh Độ Cư Sĩ Phật Hội in the national education system is relatively modest. These religious organizations have not yet established kindergartens, but they actively enter vocational training and raise the Learning Promotion Fund (Quỹ khuyến học) to help economically and socially disadvantaged children enroll in schools.

Regarding the Learning Promotion Fund, the Hòa Hảo Buddhist Church has raised funds to provide scholarships, textbooks, pens, bicycles, and food for students every year (Vũ Thanh Bằng, 2022). Additionally, this church initiated the program of “Educational Promotion Kitchens” (Bếp ăn Khuyến học) that supplied lunch to students who suffered from food insecurity. By 2015, eight such kitchens could serve daily lunches to around 1,780 students (Nguyễn Công Lý, 2019). The Hòa Hảo Buddhist Church even mobilized believers to renovate schools free of charge. To cope with educational difficulties caused by the pandemic COVID-19, in 2020, this church organized the program of “School Enrollment Assistance” (Tiếp sức đến trường) that extended opportunities for school-based education of poor children by providing scholarships and food with an estimated worth of 9,774,900,000 VNĐ (Lê Thanh, 2021).

About Tịnh Độ Cư Sĩ Phật Hội’s participation in public educational activities, the Education Committee of this religious organization has long placed particular emphasis on traditional medical training that compiles with its own collected textbooks. These textbooks are divided into three categories to educate medical students corresponding to the first-level, the second-level, and the third-level programs. The 12-month first-level program consists of modules that cover ten medical rules, medical properties of 200 medicinal flavors, opposite relationships among different medicines, abstaining throughout pregnancy, diagnosis of diseases by observing colors and shapes, learning human physiology, and moral doctrines, respectively. The 18-month second-level program consists of modules that pertain to ways of using medicinal herbs, typology of origin of medicinal herbs, vascular disease, discussion of treatment, eighth symptoms of diseases, eight groups of treatment methods, ways of production and use of medicinal herbs, names of medicine, explanation of diseases caused by six elements such as wind, coldness, light, humid level, dry level, and hot level, and moral doctrines. Finally, the 20-month third-level program consists of modules that instruct students on the medical properties of 200 medicinal flavors, discussion of disease treatment, names of medicine, vascular disease, pediatrics, and gynecology (Nguyễn Thị Thu, 2021). The students who graduated from such programs have to commit themselves to serving in the traditional medicine clinic of Tịnh Độ Cư Sĩ Phật Hội for three years. In the years from 2014 to 2019, the Education Committee of Tịnh Độ Cư Sĩ Phật Hội trained and licensed 589 physicians (Ban Trị sự Trung ương - Tịnh độ Cư Sĩ Phật Hội Việt Nam, 2019).

Challenges for Religious Organizations

Religious organizations such as the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha and Catholic Church fall short of highly qualified staff, modern equipment, and facilities to successfully conduct educational activities in the national education system. The teaching staff of these educational bases rely on visiting teachers who work for other schools. Such a situation sometimes entails difficulties in both teaching quality and developing schools on a large scale. To date, the number of kindergartens that meet the national standard is relatively small. Among vocational training bases of religious organizations, there are deficiencies in modern equipment used for instructing high skills. Another problem concerns the fact that a range of educational facilities is based on religious institutions such as pagodas and churches. This situation, in turn, leads to a space shortage for learning and extracurricular activities.

Furthermore, many religious organizations and individuals inevitably encounter the paradox that is to strike a delicate balance between religious practices and secular principle-based educational activities. Managers of kindergartens, those who are also nuns of religious congregations cannot often hold leading positions because they are also responsible for religious duties. They have to obey the rules of religious orders and assign religious works. Leaders of religious orders also can change and appoint these nuns to religious assignments in other areas. Teachers who are clergies of religious organizations have to ask for permission from their religious leaders when they want to participate in educational activities. These teachers must also allot their time to religious activities in churches and classroom teaching practices. Another question is whether or not teachers as clergies and believers are granted permission to teach some majors when they must adhere to strict religious disciplines. For example, the Buddhist canon prohibited Buddhists from performing dancing and singing (Thích Giác Duyên, 2020). Such paradoxes impacted the efficiency of the teaching and the management of schools run by religious organizations and individuals. In addition, students of some educational bases that rely on religious facilities to operate educational activities are inevitably influenced by religious practices. Some educational bases run by religious organizations not only impart knowledge but also propagate their faith to children incidentally, which may be contradictory to the secular principle of the national education system (Nguyễn Hữu Tuấn, 2015).

Simultaneously, religious participation in national education encounters barriers owing to the complexity of legal rules. Despite the Law of belief and religion confirming that religious organizations have the right to participate in national education, there is a lack of a legal framework to specifically regulate, justify, and operate educational facilities and vocational training schools run by religious organizations. Whereas some religious individuals participated in the national education system, they have not gotten used to related legal rules. Given such a situation, religious organizations and individuals may be confused or run into problems as they are involved in the national education field.

Opportunities for Religious Organizations

Preschool education has been extremely competitive and highly demanding in Vietnam in recent years. Since the market economy and industrialization increase have been among the main reasons that push parents to rush into long hours of work at offices and factories, there emerges a pressing need for sending children in early childhood to kindergarten. Along with this increase is the issue of overload in operating the preschool system in densely populated areas such as industrial zones and big cities. To share the burden of the national preschool system, the socialization of education continuously proves itself to be an effective inevitable trend that could have helped to provide more educational facilities. However, as such educational bases are set up excessively, it also poses a multitude of problems which range from bullies, food safety, and educational quality to teacher dedication. That such problems persist at an alarming rate concerns many families and the relevant institutions in the contemporary society of Vietnam.

Against such a backdrop, religious players in educational activities at the preschool level are appreciated highly for their pedagogical ethics. Because of their religious upbringing, religious individuals and groups are inculcated with laudable moral traits and principles inside their minds. Specifically, the religious instructions instilled love and compassion in the teachers who are also monks and nuns of religious congregations. Such a moral legacy in turn manifests through sacrifices in the work of these teachers whose devotion to teaching takes priority over financial returns. The moral principles of religions also help such teachers eschew inappropriate behaviors in the process of tutoring and provide tender care for children with great love and genuine concern. According to an official report in 2014, there was no bullying in all private kindergartens that were operated by religious organizations and individuals (Ban Thường trực UBTWMTTQVN-Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo, 2014). In such a pedagogical comfort zone, parents could feel happy and safe if they send their children to kindergartens of religious congregations. One mother said that “nuns have no pressure of economic benefit and family, instead, they have a warm heart, thus devoting themselves to educating children” (Nhung Nguyễn, 2022). So educational bases run by religious bodies have great advantages that appeal to their customers, retain customer loyalty, and create healthy competition in the education market.

Religious organizations continue to express their unequivocal commitments to participating in education, especially volunteer-based education. This orientation is premised on the fact that every religion intends to educate and guide human beings toward good deeds. To contribute more effectively to improving education, some major religious organizations in Vietnam have promoted training professional human resources through association with universities and colleges. Religious groups and individuals also actively equip themselves with legal rules pertinent to operating educational bases in line with the laws and policies of the State.

Schools operated by religious organizations and individuals charge affordable tuition fees or even provide free education for learners. Such non-profit schools contributed a great deal of literacy learning to poor children. These organizations thus have played an important part in sharing the financial burden of the State in the progress of improving education for citizens. With that contribution, religious organizations are encouraged strongly by the SRV and other institutions of the political system of the VCP to participate actively in national education activities. Nguyễn Thiện Nhân, a former president of the Central Committee of Fatherland Front of Vietnam, confirmed that the Central Committee of Fatherland Front of Vietnam at every level always accompanies religious organizations to develop education missions, particularly preschool education, to benefit Vietnam (Việt Hoàng, 2014). The religious organizations in Vietnam have also received support from the people inside and outside religious communities to expand educational facilities and improve pedagogical quality. This support will extend opportunities for religious participation in the national education system, especially in the space of volunteer-based and specialized education for vulnerable people.

Conclusions

Though attaining remarkable achievements that made the country much more prosperous than many years before, the reform and development of Vietnam have faced many issues and challenges. In terms of education, the rate of out-of-school children has been relatively high at all educational levels. Many of such children belong to some ethnic minorities or have difficult circumstances. Religious organizations in Vietnam with their millions of followers are welcomed by the government to be part of this collective enterprise, of transforming the nation. Following the reform policy of the VCP and the SRV on education, religious organizations and individuals have actively made a positive contribution to the national educational landscape. Indeed, by taking part in educating the citizens of the country irrespective of religious status, religious organizations are improving not only the health and well-being of the individuals but also the prosperity of the nation.

Religious organizations and individuals with great love and great compassion willingly devote themselves to educational activities without any intention to gain financial profits. That said, such devotion can contribute to reorienting society towards humanistic education in the face of a brutally competitive market. Reconciliation, collaboration, a degree of receptiveness to universal values, a focus on our common humanity, and moral responsibility toward one another should be some of the principles that would help religious organizations together with the government to come up with a new system of education that does not let any stratum, especially the disadvantaged, the poor, and the weak, be sidelined from the path of development of the country.

Being guided by traditional and socialist values, the government has created policies that pave the way for the participation of religious groups in the education of the poor, the homeless, and the marginalized. To enable this work more effectively, local governmental institutions, especially the Department of Education and Training (Sở Giáo dục và Đào tạo) and the Department of Home Affairs (Sở Nội vụ), need to continue supporting the training in both professional teaching and administration for staff at schools run by religious organizations. By working closely with these religious organizations to improve their understanding of laws related to education, the local governments will help these organizations eschew legal problems related to national education activities. Furthermore, to encourage religious groups to contribute to developing national education, the government and political organizations such as the Committee of Fatherland Front (Ủy ban Mặt trận Tổ quốc) and the Department of Education and Training continuously rally religious groups and others in exchange experiences in the national education. From that, these groups can learn and scale up role models in their national educational activities (Ban Thường trực UBTWMTTQVN-Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo, 2014).

The government’s openness should also be reciprocated with openness from all sides, be it Christian, Buddhist, or other. Religious organizations concerning engagement in national education also need to enhance the quality of professional teaching for clergies and ordinary religious people who are willing to become teachers and staff at the schools of the national education system. To achieve this goal, religious organizations should constantly collaborate with colleges and universities across the country to open more courses to train their human resources in terms of pedagogy and educational administration. Moreover, religious authorities should make time available for monks and nuns who simultaneously work as teachers in the schools of the national education system. Religious organizations must also establish more focused agendas for participating in national education and provide certain priorities to their teaching activities. Teachers who are also religious believers can now balance their time between their religious duties and their teaching activities with greater flexibility. Certain subjects, like music and dancing, can go against the tight restrictions for the clergies of some religious groups. The schools administered by these groups should assign such courses to other teachers with the same expertise, those who are ordinary religious people or non-religious ones. Collaborating with outside schools and teachers is thus a further solution in this situation.

In the final, to emancipate the macro paradox that stems from the incompatibility between the confession of faith of religious people and the secular principle of the State, may it be time to raise questions about building “a reconstructionist approach” to national education in Vietnam? This re-constructionist approach aims at enabling decision-makers to re-establish “the tenets of a secular discipline” of national education that should take into account particular religious values (Collins and Jun, 2019: 8). More specifically, religious education may need to be added to the curriculum as an option that only targets certain students who already identify with a particular religious tradition. In other words, such students can be classified “by denominational affiliation and are taught about their faith” from their inside perspective (Flensner, 2017: 19). Students also can choose what religious subjects they want to learn, or they can opt out of religious subjects entirely (Flensner, 2017). This approach may withstand the issue of camouflaged proselytization in the space of certain schools run by religious groups. Because it can specify which particular student groups are permitted to receive religious instruction at school and what particular requirements must be met for the teaching of religious themes. This is done not just to appease the religious side, but also to give the management of the government a clearer legal framework. Furthermore, two actual causes seem to have made the reconstructed curriculum, which incorporates religious themes, rather acceptable in the context of Vietnam. On the one hand, there are many different religions practiced in Vietnam. On the other hand, the cultures of various ethnic groups in Vietnam have had a close connection to certain religious traditions. Though it may take some time, careful consideration, and the participation and agreement of various sides—including the government and religious organizations—to reconstruct such a curriculum for national education in Vietnam, it appears to be a work of considerable importance in the national education agenda going forward.