The Role of Local Educational Management in Vietnam

Abstract : This study examines the critical role of local educational management in Vietnam, with a particular focus on how provincial-level authorities implement national education policies in practice through school network planning, resource allocation, and teacher deployment. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative document analysis with descriptive analysis of official statistics published by the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Finance. To capture regional variation in governance capacity and educational demand, the study contrasts two major metropolitan centers, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with two large North Central provinces, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, where broader rural and mountainous contexts create distinct challenges in access and resource distribution. The findings reveal a clear divide between large metropolitan centers and territorially extensive provinces. Major cities face rapid enrollment growth, higher staffing pressures, and intensified demand for educational services, while large provinces confront persistent infrastructure gaps, dispersed settlement patterns, and access inequalities, particularly in rural and mountainous areas. Fiscal analysis further indicates uneven local spending capacity across regions, alongside persistent limitations in data integration and reporting consistency within subnational education administration.