Speaking at the opening ceremony of the new school year at Le Hong Phong High School in HCM City, PM Dung reaffirmed that the Party and State pay special attention to education and training and consider them top national priorities.

Acknowledging the sector’s great efforts, Mr Dung said it has gained significant achievements and the quality of education is gradually improving.

Vietnam completed the universalisation of primary education in 2000 and lower secondary education in 2010. It is now working hard to universalise pre-primary education for children under five.

Educational management has seen improvements while equal access to education among regions has been achieved, he said.

These positive results have contributed greatly to improving the quality of the country’s human resources, and the percentage of trained labourers has increased from 16 percent in 2000 to more than 40 percent in 2010.

However, PM Dung said, the quality of education, especially in social knowledge, information technology and language skills, does not meet society’s demands.

Poor facilities are one of the factors in preventing the sector from developing, he said.

The PM asked the sector to make greater efforts to improve teacher quality, promote updated teaching methods, and focus on helping pupils improve their knowledge and skills.

Infrastructure also needs to be upgraded, he said, urging the educational sector to promote the application of IT in management.

He said the government and local administrations will do their best to increase investment in education and create better teaching and learning conditions.

On the occasion, the PM granted scholarships to three outstanding pupils from Le Hong Phong High School, who received the top marks on their university entrance exams.

**On the same day, State Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan attended opening ceremony at Hoang Van Thu High School in northern Hoa Binh province and Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc went to the opening of the Chu Van An High School in Hanoi.