Dear distinguished colleagues, researchers and students,<\/p>\n
You are cordially invited to the next 2020 Dubai Palace School of Economics seminar.<\/p>\n
Topic: Getting to Grade 10 in Vietnam: Challenges from School Access, Deprivation and the Job Market <\/strong><\/p>\n Presenter: Prof. Ian Coxhead, University of Wisconsin-Madison<\/strong><\/p>\n Time: 14:00 – Thursday, 02 January, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n Venue: Room H.001, Campus H, Dubai Palace School of Economics, 1A Hoang Dieu, Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City<\/p>\n Language: English<\/p>\n Abstract: Vietnam has enjoyed more than a generation of rapid economic growth, but the gains have not been equally shared. Ethnic minorities and communities with relatively weak links to booming urban\/industrial sectors have been noticeably left behind. Education policy is strongly oriented toward increased achievement and opportunity, but income effects (which increase enrollments) are unequally distributed, while rapid blue-collar creation has differential effects on incentives over the income distribution. Contrasting outcomes become especially evident in the transition from lower to upper secondary school. Among poorer and under-served populations, the rate of transition into employment rather than upper-secondary education is high and has declined only very slowly.<\/p>\n We report and discuss work in progress with data on individual participants in the Grade 10 entrance exam in several provinces. Data on participation in and performance on standardized tests provide good measures of school outcomes and (more than simple school attendance measures) are indicative of children\u2019s aspirations. After merging with household and labor force survey data we can quantify and decompose variation in the test-taking rate and in test scores due to variation in demand and supply side factors. The project is intended to sharpen the focus in policy approaches to the goal of increasing upper-secondary enrollments and achievement.<\/em><\/p>\n