Ethnic Variation in Educational Attainment of Young Adults in Vietnam

Are there any ethnic-group differences in educational attainment of young adults in Vietnam? The topic is important as education attainment affects economic status once people enter the labor market. Ethnic variation in educational attainment implies economic inequality by ethnic group in Vietnam. Given that Vietnam has been experiencing rapid economic growth since the economic reform, educational attainment of minority young adults lagging behind that of other groups would suggest hampered economic prospect for them. Using 2009 Vietnamese Population and Housing Census data, we found that there is substantial variation by ethnic group in educational attainment of young adults between ages 14 and 18. While the rate of never attending primary education was the highest for Khmer, the rates for Tay and Chinese were the lowest. To understand the pattern, we performed a series of logistic regression models. We found that the parent’s educational level, gender of the child, is strongly related to the likelihood of the child’s completion of primary education although there is large variation by region. However, the spouse's ethnicity, economic activities of parents are not related to the likelihood of the child’s school attendance. Implications of the finding will be discussed.