Education and training play an essential role in the preservation, development and continuation of human civilization. In the era of scientific and technological revolution nowadays, education and training are becoming the main motive force for the developmental acceleration and considered as a determining factor for the success or failure of a nation in international competitions and for the success of each individual in his life. Thus, the Government and people of every nation highly appreciate the role of education and training.

In Vietnam, Article 35 of the current Constitution (issued in 1992) stipulates: Education is the first priority of the national policy. The Second Plenary Session of the Central Party Standing Committee VIII has issued the Resolution on the strategic orientation for the development of education and training during the period of industrialization and modernization.

Article 86 of the Education law stipulates the framework of governmental management of education, including firstly the formulating and guiding, scheming and planning strategy and policy for educational development.

Therefore, Vietnamese Government, in pace with other socio-economic development strategies, has planned a strategy to year 2020 with steps to year 2025 for the national education and training development.

Education and training strategy plays a very important part in human resources development strategy. Manpower with good knowledge is the most important resource of the modern industry. Thus, to improve the quality of human resources is the main conditions for the economic growth and social development. We are developing the strategy for education and training development while the country is step by step integrating into the world. However, while the developed countries have achieved high level of development in science and technology and they are moving forward a knowledge economy and an information society, Vietnam is still a backward agricultural country with narrow land, big population and a few natural resources. Therefore, education and training strategy must be the key to narrow such a gap, push up the industrialization and modernization, make the economy grow and improve the people's living standards. Education and training strategy must bring into play the good tradition of Vietnamese education. It must on the one hand enhance the achievements and on the other hand overcome the weaknesses of the 15 years of renovation in consistence with the world trend and prospective in several coming decades.

In the recent years, Vietnam’s education system has steadily developed. The number of education schools and institutions has increased and the training quality has gradually improved. From the system consisting of only narrowly specialized schools, voacational institurions, colleges, universities and higer education with different degrees have changed a lot facilitate programs.

As far as we are concerned, the new educational programme's curriculum has eight  ducational fields, which are language and literature, mathematics, morals and citizen education and physical education, as well as art, social science, natural science and technology and IT.

Although having gained certain achievements, our country's education and training sector has still not caught up with the requirements of socio-economic development and shown its weaknesses in a number of aspects: The quality of education and the effectiveness of educational activities at all levels are still low; The manpower training structure is not reasonable in terms of qualifications, careers and regions; The social equity in education has not been carried out sufficiently; Some negative and undisciplinary phenomena in education are not prevented promptly. One of the key he causes of the weaknesses is slownness in education and training management due to poor socio-economic aspect.

Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) recently introduced a draft of the overall general education programme to collect feedback from experts and the public.

According to the draft, the 12-year programme will have two phases of basic education (five years of primary school and four years of secondary school) and vocational orientation (three years of high school).