Education in Viet Bac Autonomous Zone in the Period 1956-1965

Abstract

This article focuses only on the education in Viet Bac autonomous zone in the first ten years of socialism building in northern Vietnam (1956-1965). The Viet Bac autonomous zone was founded on 1 July 1965 by Decree No. 268/SL signed by President Ho Chi Minh, consisting of five provinces: Cao Bang, Bac Can, Lang Son, Thai Nguyen, and Tuyen Quang. Three years later, Ha Giang province was included into this autonomous zone, making the home for around 800,000 people of 12 ethnics, most notably the Tay-Nung groups. During the first ten years of its autonomy, the education of Viet Bac autonomous zone have developed quickly and completely in term of disciplines, number of pupils, and number of teachers. The cultural face of this area changed remarkably; people of both Viet and Tay groups became literate. Nevertheless, the education in Viet Bac was still affected by such difficulties as: i) because of the backward economy, pupils had to spend a lot of time working in the farms; ii) long distance between village and school which discouraged pupils from traveling; iii) severe climate, too cold in the winter and too hot and drought in the summer and so forth.