Deputy Minister of Education and Training, Professor Dr Lê Quân addresses the opening ceremony of the Francophone Education Forum.

GIA LAI – Việt Nam is undergoing a profound reform of its educational system to meet the demands of national development and growing international integration, said Deputy Minister of Education and Training, Professor Dr Lê Quân.

“Education is no longer aimed solely at the transmission of knowledge, it must henceforth train citizens capable of innovating, adapting, and evolving in a world in constant transformation,” Quân told the opening of the Francophone Education Forum in Quy Nhơn, Gia Lai Province, on Thursday. 

The official highlighted Việt Nam’s focus on equipping younger generations with linguistic, digital and scientific skills to foster international cooperation. These efforts complement ongoing efforts to strengthen higher education and innovation to drive socio-economic development.

“In this context, Francophone educational cooperation takes on a particular importance, though several challenges remain, such as attracting more learners, strengthening human resources, renewing pedagogical methods, and adapting educational models to rapid technological developments,” said Quân.

Organised for the first time in Việt Nam, the forum provides an opportunity for stakeholders to evaluate the current status, standing, and future prospects of the French language within the regional education system. Simultaneously, it aims to promote cooperation initiatives to enhance the quality of French teaching and learning in Việt Nam.

It featured around 120 delegates, representing Government agencies, educational establishments, French teachers and members of Francophone education networks across Việt Nam, Cambodia and Laos.

The two-day event aims to present the tools and mechanisms of the actors of Francophone cooperation to make them better known and valued; to define and build together the tools that will be useful for the development of our cooperation in the years to come; and to identify future perspectives so that establishments can make coherent and relevant choices that allow for a useful teaching of French that meets professional needs, particularly those related to the job market.

According to the organisers – the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), French Embassy in Việt Nam and the International Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Education (ICISE), Việt Nam is currently asserting its position as a key hub for the Francophone community in Asia. 

With 32 educational institutions holding the 'LabelFrancEducation', a prestigious quality seal awarded by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to schools worldwide that offer outstanding French bilingual education - and numerous new applications under review, Việt Nam has demonstrated remarkable momentum in French language and bilingual education.

French Ambassador to Việt Nam Olivier Brochet highilghts that French is a language of culture and memory, and of the diversity of Francophone cultures.

“We have nearly doubled the number of certified establishments over the past three years. With 32 certified establishments and 17 current candidates, the Vietnamese network is now the largest in Asia,” said French Ambassador to Việt Nam Olivier Brochet.

He emphasised that development is part of the continuity of the intergovernmental agreement on educational cooperation signed at the Élysée Palace in October 2024, in the presence of the General Secretary and President of Việt Nam, Tô Lâm, during his official visit to France.

Brochet added: “In a world undergoing profound transformation, education is the most powerful lever to prepare younger generations to meet the challenges of today's world, and especially tomorrow's. Việt Nam is currently experiencing a remarkable phase of development and modernisation.

"The orientations carried by the Vietnamese Government are placed at the heart of national priorities: innovation, the upskilling of youth, digital transformation, international openness, the quality of training and the development of human resources.

The Francophone Education Forum, held in Việt Nam for the first time, gathers around 120 delegates from Việt Nam, Cambodia and Laos.

“All educational systems in the world face the same challenges in supporting and sustaining the transformation of our countries and societies in a rapidly changing world.

"We must train responsible citizens, aware of the issues of sustainable development and our responsibilities toward future generations, capable of adapting to and mastering a constantly evolving technological environment, and able to work in multicultural environments and master several languages to innovate and cooperate with the world.

“In this perspective, the French language is a precise asset. French is a language of culture and memory, a carrier of concepts, of a rich Francophone imagination, and of the diversity of Francophone cultures.

"French is also a language of the future: a language of mobility, diplomacy, research, scientific innovation, economics, and international exchange.”

French is currently spoken across five continents with a community of more than 350 million.

Director of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) Nicolas Mainetti said: “In Việt Nam, as in Cambodia and Laos, French is receiving renewed attention from educational authorities, as evidenced here by the development of the LabelFrancEducation.

"This dynamic will find a particular resonance during the 20th Francophonie Summit in Phnom Penh in November 2026, to which the achievements of this Quy Nhơn forum will make a valuable contribution.”

Within the framework of the forum, a joint declaration is signed among the MOET, the Frence embassy, the Wallonia-Brussels Delegation and the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF). VNS Photos ICISE

Within the framework of the forum, the MoET, the French embassy, the Wallonia-Brussels Delegation, and the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) signed a joint declaration, affirming their commitment to strengthening cooperation, promoting French language instruction, and developing the Francophone educational community in Việt Nam.

“The joint declaration signed today affirms that French is a language of employability, mobility, research, and innovation,” said Mainetti. VNS