Unit 7: Recipes and Eating Habbits - A Closer Look 2

Education System of Viet Nam in the Past Because of 1,000 years under the control of China, there were no records which indicated a formal education system in Viet Nam. In 939, Emperor Ngo Quyen expelled the Chinese invaders and declared Vietnamese independence. But the first two dynasties Ngo and Dinh did not last so long, and were busy with the national defense, so the education was just in pagodas. Ly Cong Uan, the founder king of the Ly dynasty had been educated in a pagoda. To the Ly dvnasty, the fundamental educational system was officially improved, King Ly Thanh Ton established the Temple of Literature at the ancient Capital of Thang Long to encourage people to appreciate the education. In 1075, the first exam was done by the order of King Ly Nhan Ton to select scholars for the office and the later year, 1076, the Imperial Academy, the first university in Viet Nam's history, was set up for the education of sons of royally and other high-ranking officials. There were also many private classes taught by prominent scholars such as Chu Van An, Le Quy Don, Nguyen Binh Khiem,Phung Khac Khoan,Vo Truong Toan... The students would only study literature and ancient history of China, of Viet Nam for entirety of their schooling. Later on, the Public Administration curriculum was finally added to the programme. When the Ho Royal family ruled the country, students were taught simple mathematics. From 1918 to 1945, Viet Nam’s education programme adopted the western education system with three levels: elementary, high school, and college. At all levels, from 1945 the Vietnamese national language is officially used. Students have the opportunity to learn literature, history, philosophy, law, science, math, medicine and other languages.