The Evolution of the Communist Party of Vietnam's Educational Thinking During Doi Moi (1986–2026): An Analysis of the 6th–14th National Party Congress Documents

Abstract

This study examines the evolution of the Communist Party of Vietnam's thinking on education and training during the Đổi mới (Renovation) period (1986–2026) through an analysis of the Documents of the Sixth to the Fourteenth National Party Congresses. Adopting a historical policy perspective, the article employs content analysis, policy discourse analysis, and diachronic comparison to elucidate the transformation of the Party's educational policy across different stages of national development. The findings indicate that the Party's educational thinking evolved through four major phases: (1) education serving the Đổi mới process and national development (1986–1995); (2) education as the foremost national policy in support of industrialization and modernization (1996–2005); (3) fundamental and comprehensive educational reform, the development of high-quality human resources, and international integration (2006–2020); and (4) education integrated with science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation in a new era of national development (2021–2026). Despite continuous refinement and expansion, the Party's educational policy has consistently maintained its fundamental objective of promoting human development and national development. This study contributes to the systematic reconstruction of the evolution of the Party's educational thinking over four decades of Đổi mới, while enriching historical policy approaches to the study of education in Vietnam.