THE ROLE OF CLCs IN BUILDING A LEARNING SOCIETY IN VIETNAM Ho Chi Minh City, November 2014

1. Expected characteristics of a learning citizen, a learning community, and a learning society 2. CLC: current situation and progress evaluation 3. Building learning society from the grassroots level: orientations CONTENTS

Learning citizens Integration, Prosperity, and Sustainability Learn to know Learn to do Learn to live together Learn to be

A learning community may be a region, a city, a town, or a commune, a ward, etc. in which all resources are mobilised to foster and explore all capacities of citizens in order to promote personal development and maintain social cohesion towards prosperity and sustainable development. The effort of everyone (organisations, individuals) is geared towards an overarching goal. (Longworth, 1999) Personal Development Social Cohesion Prosperity and Sustainable Development Goals Learning community ?

Learning society Open and diverse learning systemHuman centered Pmote a learning support system (ICT) Promote impetus for development Engender a culture of learningPromote social security Ensure learning opportunity for allPromote gender equality Ensure job opportunity for allPromote sustainable environment A learning society is one in which every citizen has to engage themselves in continuous and lifelong learning, taking every learning opportunity provided by society. Therefore, learning should become an inner need and responsibility of every citizen, family, clan, agency, community, and the whole society.

CLCs IN BUILDING A LEARNING SOCIETY (BLS) The BLS should be started with the most basic level of society and theu move upwards; to be specific, from Learning individuals and families; Learning clans, villages, hamlets; Learning communities (communes, wards, towns) and Learning agencies (organisations, enterprises), to Learning cities (Hai Dzuong) The establishment of a criterion system for these learning unit models should be based on the development of core capacities such as: analysis, communication, interculturalness, governance at global, regional, and local levels. One of these models is the commune, ward, and town CLC.

The CLCs were piloted in Vietnam in the period , and later on, were expanded and institutionalised throughout the country (the Education Act 2005). At present, the CLC network is spreading out nationwide with 10,994 CLCs (which means 98.77% communes/wards now have CLCs.) Among them, 53 provinces/cities have CLCs at 100% of their communes/wards. On the average, there are about 13 million participations in different thematic sessions at CLCs every year, according to recent statistics.

CLCs in

The number of learners in CLCs 2005 – 2014

The Contributions of CLCs Strengthening and enhancing the effectiveness of illiteracy eradication and compulsory primary and secondary education Improving political and social stabilisation, fostering harmony among the people and synergies between agencies and organisations Enabling the working people, especially farmers to reduce poverty and improve living conditions Raising awareness of the constitution and laws: promoting “work and live in compliance with laws” Promoting the implementation of campaigns such as “Building the new-style countryside”, “Building a cultural life”… ; fostering fondness of learning and appreciation of talents and facilitating the establishment of “learning” families, clans and communes in the locality.

CLC Development Orientation 4 key principles of education renovation Transforming to an open, lifelong learning model; Transforming from learning for knowledge acquisition to skill formulation; Transforming from learning for certification to learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be (4 UNESCO pillars); Realising “Education for all” and “All for education” as an effective way to build a learning society.

The key role of CLCs A multi-functioning centre in charge of teaching- learning, organising cultural and sports activities, and disseminating knowledge of laws, government policies, and environment to the local community. A lifelong learning opportunity provider to the public The most effective focal point for the implementation of the intersectoral collaboration mechanism An ideal place for promoting and evaluating the models of “learning citizen”, “learning agency” “learning community”and “learning society” A special lifelong learning school, preparing the workforce for the socio-economic development of local communities

CLC, as viewed by UNESCO CLC is the non-formal education institution at commune, ward, or town level, established and managed by the community for local life improvement and community development through provision of lifelong learning opportunities. Unlike in formal schools, CLC management and staff are volunteers and therefore do not earn a salary (although they may get allowances). CLC activities are flexible in terms of time, preferences, and responsive to the local community needs. Thus, it can be stated briefly that CLC is the non-formal institution of the community, by the community, and for the community. CLC plays a key role in building learning society from the grassroots level.

“An illiterate nation is a powerless one.” “There is no end to learning.” “Learning is lifelong.” “You can learn at school, from books, from each other, from the people; it will be a big flaw if you fail to learn from the people.” “The world is making constant progress, you will fall far behind if you stop learning.” President Hồ Chí Minh and young pupils

Thank you very much! Dr. Nguyễn Hồng Sơn Deputy Director General, Continuing Education Department, Vietnam MOET