Vietnam secures the top spot for exporting creative and high-tech goods but faces a challenge in educational investment.
Innovation Outpaces Educational Growth
Vietnam’s rapid climb to the zenith of global creative goods and high-tech exports has captured worldwide attention. As highlighted in the High-Level Meeting on Developing an Innovation Ecosystem Linked to Intellectual Property Education held in Hanoi, the country triumphantly ranks first worldwide in these sectors. However, a closer look reveals a sobering reality: Vietnam ranks a mere 116th in educational spending out of 139 countries.
In a riveting address, Rai Pushpendra illuminated Vietnam’s meteoric rise on the Global Innovation Index, highlighting the nation’s impressive global rank of 44. Despite this, Altaye Tedla starkly pointed out the incongruity between Vietnam’s innovation advances and its educational system, a gap that threatens to bottleneck future growth.
An Educational System in Need of Reform
There’s consensus that Vietnam’s traditional education model needs reinvention. As Tedla articulated, a paradigm shift is essential to transform the current system from producing workers to nurturing creators. In essence, it’s about empowering young minds to explore new horizons and lead with innovation.
Nguyen Hoang Giang echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the need for a cultural shift towards innovation from the ground up, starting with the youth. The envisioned path forward involves infusing schools with labs reminiscent of India’s Atal Tinkering Labs—a model proven to invigorate student creativity and practical problem-solving.
Drawing Inspiration from India’s Atal Model
Intriguing parallels were drawn between Vietnam and India during discussions at the meeting. Since its inception in 2016, India’s Atal Tinkering Labs have burgeoned from 800 to 60,000, stimulated by the need to nurture homegrown innovators. The program’s success stories, such as the freshman-developed AI driving-assistance system in Sikkim, illustrate the possibilities awaiting Vietnamese students.
Marc Woo of Google Vietnam underscored the country’s burgeoning status as a tech hub within Southeast Asia. Similar to India, Vietnam’s potential lies in its transformative approach to solving localized challenges through innovation-driven education.
Building a Future of Innovation
Looking ahead, Nguyen Hoang Giang outlined Vietnam’s ambition: to engrain an IP culture that permeates all levels of society. The journey toward establishing IP Labs marks an inaugural step in a comprehensive strategy to harness, cultivate, and monetize creativity on a national scale.
Significantly, the aim is not just to produce scientists but to foster an ecosystem where every student learns to convert ideas into economic assets. This aspiration aligns with the broader vision of a Vietnam that doesn’t just participate in the global economy but leads and innovates on the world stage. According to Báo VietNamNet, these strategic initiatives signal Vietnam’s readiness to capitalize on its innovation triumphs for a sustainable and prosperous future.