From 6-8 December 2018, the Ministry of Education and Training organised a training workshop in Ho Chi Minh for nearly 90 CLC management and continuing education officials from South Vietnam. The workshop focused on good operation and management practices that can be shared and learned for improved programmes and activities.

Mr Nguyen Cong Hinh, Director of Department of Continuing Education, began the workshop with an inspiring talk on challenges that many CLCs are facing and directions for development of CLCs, illustrated with examples of localities where CLC activities are either flourishing or declining. All in all, it is dedication that is key to these successes, and management should be versatile in mobilising different social resources for education and learning of local people.

The workshop benefited from five thematic presentations delivered by representatives from Department of Continuing Education, Vietnam Association for Learning Promotion, Quang Ninh Department of Education and Training, and SEAMEO CELLL.

Mr Khau Huu Phuoc, SEAMEO CELLL Manager of Research and Training, facilitated the workshop with a keynote speech on lessons learnt from CLC operations in Japan. In his presentation, he emphasised that for a CLC to be beneficial and operationally successful, it must be truly a venue of community activities, not just a place for learning. This was drawn from the model of the Japanese CLC, Kominkan, where people experience a deep sense of community togetherness and knowledge sharing.

Participants of the workshop also shared their concerns about financial support, and low coordination among organisations and institutions, all of which were carefully noted by high officials of Department of Contintuing Education for consideration.

This workshop is one in a series of three conducted in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Hanoi over a period of three weeks with an aim to raise management capacity of officials working in continuing education.

​From 27 to 29 November 2018 SEAMEO organised its 41st High Official Meeting. This annual meeting is to review programmes that are in progress or have been achieved by SEAMEO units in the previous year, and to consider proposals of new programmes that involve collaboration on a regional level. 

In the presentation on Vietnam's last year's achievements, Dr Phan Dang Hung emphasised that Vietnam had issued the Action Plan for the period of 2016-2020 to implement the scheme Development and Implementation of ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community by 2025. The scheme laid out four main tasks in response to SEAMEO 7 Priority Areas.

He also stressed two key advancements in Vietnam education policy development for Priority Ảea 7. First is the soon-to-implement abandonment of the score system in primary school pupils. Pupils are not given scores, but instead receive comments, which reduces much pressure of having the highest score, being the top of the class for the pupils themselves as well as their families. Second is the gradual shift from the content approach to the qualitative approach to better cater for the demand for human resources development.

The meeting concluded with the review and adoption of the 41st HOM proceedings, and set the dates for the next meeting which is 26-28 November 2019.