Editing Annam (French protectorate) (section)

== Education == 
{{Further|Confucian court examination system in Vietnam}} 
{{See also|Education in Vietnam|Imperial examination}}

During the French period the [[Confucianism|Confucian-oriented]] education system was slowly being replaced with a local version of the [[Education in France|French education system]].<ref name="Middlebury-History-of-Education-of-Vietnam">{{cite web|url= https://sites.miis.edu/educationinvietnam/historyofvietnam/history-of-education/|title= History of Education § Educational Roots: Feudal Period (Up to the late 19th century).|date=2011|accessdate=30 May 2021|author= Kathryn Lattman|publisher= [[Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="World-Bank-2010-Education-in-Vietnam">[[World Bank]] ([[World Bank Group]]) – [http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1121703274255/1439264-1153425508901/Education_Vietnam_Development.pdf “Education in Vietnam”]. Published: 2010.</ref> Prior to French domination teachers were held in high regard in the Confucian system, and the traditional values of the Vietnamese people include the promotion of learning and high respect for educators.<ref name="Middlebury-History-of-Education-of-Vietnam"/><ref name="World-Bank-2010-Education-in-Vietnam"/> In this old system teachers were deemed to be "only lower than the King" (Emperor) according to a 2010 report by the [[World Bank]].<ref name="Middlebury-History-of-Education-of-Vietnam"/><ref name="World-Bank-2010-Education-in-Vietnam"/> In order to become a teacher in Imperial Vietnam, the [[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|mandarins]] would request that those who applied to become teachers should already have high grades in competitive Confucian-style exams, as well as excellent prior learning achievements.<ref name="Middlebury-History-of-Education-of-Vietnam"/><ref name="World-Bank-2010-Education-in-Vietnam"/> The 2010 report by the World Bank also noted that historically in Vietnam teachers would often be invited to reside together with well-to-do villagers so they would be able to tutor the children of these wealthy families as well as other children that lived in the village.<ref name="Middlebury-History-of-Education-of-Vietnam"/><ref name="World-Bank-2010-Education-in-Vietnam"/>

Immediately after the establishment of the colony of [[French Cochinchina]] the French established schools to teach the Vietnamese French and the French Vietnamese in order to train [[Language interpretation|interpreters]] for the army.{{cn|date=July 2021}} In Cochinchina the French immediately began replacing the Nguyễn government apparatus with the French government apparatus and education, and this formed an important part of this process.{{cn|date=July 2021}} This education and training system that was established in French Cochinchina initially met the two basic goals that the French had set up in helping to train both interpreters and secretaries for the French military and colonial government, while organising a new form of education for the indigenous population that popularised French words and romanised the local languages, gradually replacing [[Chinese characters]].{{cn|date=July 2021}} Despite their efforts French words were not readily adopted, and Chinese script persisted; thus these goals only found limited success in French Cochinchina.{{cn|date=July 2021}} 

Following the establishment of two protectorates over the Nguyễn dynasty the French expanded the education system they had set up in Cochinchina to the rest of Vietnam.{{cn|date=July 2021}} The new French-based education system was created in the hope of training indigenous people that could serve French interests in the colonial system.<ref name="Middlebury-History-of-Education-of-Vietnam"/><ref name="World-Bank-2010-Education-in-Vietnam"/> During the colonial period the French built elementary schools, primary schools, primary colleges,{{clarify|date=December 2024}} secondary schools, and three universities across Vietnam; all these used mainly the [[French language]] for instruction.<ref name="Middlebury-History-of-Education-of-Vietnam"/><ref name="World-Bank-2010-Education-in-Vietnam"/> 

Education during the French protectorate period started at the [[primary school]] level ({{Vie|v=Tiểu học|hn=小學|label=no}}); [[early childhood education]] only became a concern in Vietnamese society following the [[abolition of the Nguyễn dynasty]] in 1945.<ref name="Springer-Open-Early-childhood-education">{{cite journal |doi=10.1186/s40723-020-00080-4 |doi-access=free|title=Early childhood education in Vietnam, history, and development|year=2021|last1=Vu|first1=Thao Thi|journal=International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy|volume=15 |page=3}}</ref> During most of the French protectorate period as well as before, early childhood education was not considered to be a social task{{clarify|date=December 2024}}, and thus there was no formal educational system or curriculum for preschool children.<ref name="Springer-Open-Early-childhood-education"/>
===20th century===
In the year 1906, France enacted its first educational reform in French Indochina to expand their influence over the local populations.{{cn|date=July 2021}} These reforms were aimed at controlling the spiritual lives of the people and limiting the influence of the Confucian mandarins.{{cn|date=July 2021}} The traditional mandarins were seen as a threat to French influence, as they used Confucianism to promote Vietnamese nationalism.{{cn|date=July 2021}} The 1906 reforms implemented French at every level.{{cn|date=July 2021}} In the 1906 the basic subjects for boys were reading and writing, mathematics, history, geography, [[morality]], and [[accounting]], while the basic subjects for girls were reading and writing, mathematics, morality, [[hygiene]], and [[Homemaking|housework]].{{cn|date=July 2021}} [[Vocational education]] was also established to train the indigenous population to work for French capitalists as skilled labourers.{{cn|date=July 2021}} 

Because only a small number of schools were constructed across Vietnam, access to these schools was extremely limited and as much as 95% of the Vietnamese population would remain [[Illiteracy|illiterate]] during most of the period of French domination, showing the inefficiency of the education system.<ref name="Middlebury-History-of-Education-of-Vietnam"/><ref name="World-Bank-2010-Education-in-Vietnam"/>

In the year 1917 clear educational guidelines were established for French Indochina, and at the primary school and elementary school level Vietnamese classes were given with instructions written in [[Vietnamese alphabet|Chữ Quốc Ngữ]] to replace Chinese characters.{{cn|date=July 2021}} The Quốc Ngữ alphabet was used to turn Vietnamese into "a vehicle used to transport French ideology and interests in Indochina".{{cn|date=July 2021}} 

While apologists for the French colonial regime would claim that French rule led to vast improvements to the Vietnamese education system,<ref name="Encyclopædia-Britannica-Effects-of-French-colonial-rule-on-Vietnam">{{cite encyclopedia|url= https://www.britannica.com/place/Vietnam/Effects-of-French-colonial-rule|title= Vietnam – Effects of French colonial rule.|date=2021|accessdate=31 May 2021|encyclopedia= [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref> the official statistics that were compiled and kept by the French authorities in Indochina cast doubt on such assertions.<ref name="Encyclopædia-Britannica-Effects-of-French-colonial-rule-on-Vietnam"/> 

In the year 1939 no more than 15% of all school-age children had received any amount of education, while 80% of the general Vietnamese populace still remained illiterate.<ref name="Encyclopædia-Britannica-Effects-of-French-colonial-rule-on-Vietnam"/> This was in contrast to pre-colonial times when the majority of the Vietnamese people were at least partly literate.<ref name="Encyclopædia-Britannica-Effects-of-French-colonial-rule-on-Vietnam"/>

[[File:Bằng cấp tiểu học bổ túc cấp bởi bộ trưởng Giáo Dục của Chính Phủ Đại Nam dưới thời vua Bảo Đại năm 1939.jpg|thumb|center|An Indochinese [[primary school]] completion certificate (''Bằng-Cấp Tiểu-Học Cụ-Thề Đông-Pháp'') issued by the [[Ministry of Education (Nguyễn dynasty)|National Ministry of Education]] of the [[Nguyễn dynasty]] in the year 1939. It has a modern [[France|French]] design but displays traditional symbols like the [[Seals of the Nguyễn dynasty|seal]] of the minister, and uses [[Classical Chinese]] alongside Romanised Vietnamese.]]