Village Education in Central Vietnam from 1906 to 1945

Abstract

The paper examines the education in villages/communes of Trung Kỳ, or Central Vietnam during the French colonial period, known at that time as Annam, over the period from 1906 to 1945, focusing on changes in the educational policies, funding, schools, teaching workforce, and school curricula. Regarding the educational policies, it analyses and clarifies a number of educational reforms, including: the reform implemented in 1906 to reconstituting Confucian schools; the reform implemented in 1919 to empower the French colonial authorities to administer the school system; and, the reform implemented in 1932 and 1933 to empower the local government to take control over the school system, after the Ministry of National Education was established. The paper also gives insight into other changes in funding, curricula, quantities of schools and students the teaching workforce. The author draws on primary sources such as reports of the French government, the educational agencies of Central Vietnam, and the historical annals compiled by the Nguyen Court, as well as archives and newspapers published in the region before 1945.