The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a major setback not only in education but on the overall development strides in Vietnam, and elsewhere in the world. There is a growing concern among civil society organisations across multiple sectors, including education, that the COVID-19 and its lasting impact will be used by governments in many contexts as a reason not to fully pursue the sustainable development goals (SDGs), including the full SDG4 on education.

And while Vietnam’s significant gains in expanding education access and improving the quality of education have been well-noted prior to the pandemic, entrenched inequalities in education, as has been consistently highlighted by the Vietnam Association for Education for All (VAEFA) and further exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, is a persistent issue and will continue to inform VAEFA’s advocacy and analytical lens in education.

The project "Sustaining VAEFA’s Effective and Context-Responsive Advocacy Engagements Towards Gender Transformative Education Policy Processes and Monitoring" will contribute in sustaining VAEFA as a platform for civil society organizations in Vietnam able to pursue policy and budget advocacy for inclusive, gender-responsive, equitable and resilient quality education for all.

VAEFA’s updated overall aim is set within and in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and builds on the advocacy gains and institutional strengths of the coalition which brings in the voices of local CSOs, especially the marginalised and vulnerable groups, in strengthening the country’s public education system to make it not only resilient for future crises, such as the pandemic, but in ensuring it will reach those historically left behind in education.

VAEFA will optimise its strong and well-recognised engagements in Vietnam’s Education Sector Group (ESG – the local education group equivalent in the country) to build on its successful influencing of the preparation of the latest Vietnam Education Sector Analysis (ESA) report which will feed into the finalization and implementation process of the Vietnam Education Strategic Development Plan (ESDP 2021-2030) in accordance with the full SDG4 targets and the education rights of the people.

The coalition will also critically analyse and provide context-responsive advocacy actions and recommendations in strengthening the resilience of the public education system that will account for the evolving and now diversified modes of education delivery due to the pandemic.

This includes looking at the implications of remote and distance education in addition to online learning to improve the resilience of public education system, and at the same time, challenging all forms of inequalities and exclusions in education. It will also expand its ability to engage in budget advocacy, especially in preventing any further regression in education budgets and ensuring that financing for education will be gender-transformative, equitable and inclusive.

And to be able to sustain its advocacy gains and continue to offer strategic spaces for local CSOs, especially those from marginalised groups, VAEFA is committed to ensure its institutional systems remain credible, adaptive and sustainable.

The first phase of the project was implemented in 2020-2021 with support from Education Out Loud of 258.309 USD.