Whilst Confucian-style higher educa

Whilst Confucian-style higher education in Viet Nam may be traced back to the 11th century, the modern pattern of universal primary, secondary and tertiary education has a relatively short history of development. The 1917 Law on Education passed by the French colonial government abolished the Confucian education system and replaced it with an education system modelled loosely on that of France. However, that new system remained fundamentally elitist, reaching only an estimated three per cent of the indigenous population and functioning primarily as a means of training civil servants for colonial service throughout French Indochina.