Enabling a digital future for Vietnam

Around 22 million students across Vietnam started learning from home when the nation went into lockdown against COVID-19 in early January.

Asia Pacific, Vietnam, 8 July 2020 – As part of Vietnam’s fight against COVID-19, 22 million students in Vietnam began learning from home in early January while the nation went into lockdown. This was made possible through a partnership between the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and Microsoft, which equipped educational institutions across 61 provinces in Vietnam with remote learning capabilities, including more than 3,368,000 Office 365 accounts.

The Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) program enabled the collective push for digital transformation. It was no easy feat as most institutions had lacked online learning resources prior to the nationwide lockdown, so many were hard-hit by the sudden overnight switch to online learning.

Digital tools for remote learning

In the city of Hai Phong, more than 200 schools were armed with Microsoft Teams, with more than 200,000 students from 4,000 classes continuing their lessons from the safety of their homes in just over a day.

Students Microsoft TeamsStudents in Hai Phong enjoying real-time interaction with their teachers on Microsoft Teams

Mr. Le Quoc Tien, Director at Department of Education and Training in Hai Phong said, “We were initially under tremendous pressure to move all classes online as quickly as possible. We saw Microsoft Teams as a reliable and secure solution that could empower teachers to closely replicate the traditional classroom experience in a virtual environment. This means students could still enjoy two-way interactions and learn effectively with minimal disruption from the safety of their homes during the school closure.”

Meanwhile, for schools that were more familiar with online learning, the use of Microsoft Teams was an even more seamless process.  Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary and High School in Hanoi was the first to deploy Microsoft Teams as the default mode of learning for all students when the government first announced school closures.

Before the pandemic, the school had already begun conducting classes online on Saturdays. This foresight allowed the school to swiftly transition to Microsoft Teams, minimizing the disruption caused by COVID-19.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thu Anh, Principal of Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary and High School said, “Since the onset of COVID-19, we have adopted the use of Office 365 in school, and all students have been attending classes via Teams. It is encouraging to see how technology can enable uninterrupted learning during this difficult time by encouraging collaboration and interaction between students and teachers.”

Student High School Microsoft TeamsA student from Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary and High School attends classes via Microsoft Teams

Unlocking potential

The move to remote learning enabled by Microsoft Teams and Office 365 in Vietnam is a major step forward for the education system, and is in line with the Vietnam government’s national project itrithuc, which is geared towards building an open knowledge database that is accessible to all organizations and individuals.

“Vietnam is undergoing a nationwide digital transformation in education, and technology is important in shaping this process. We value the support from global and local corporations, such as Microsoft, that have partnered with us on this journey,” said Mr Nguyen Son Hai, Head of Technology Department, Ministry of Education and Training.

Read more about Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Office 365 here.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, please contact:

Microsoft Asia
Simran Singh Sethi
[email protected]

Microsoft Vietnam
Ly My Nhi
[email protected]

Edelman (Partnering agency for Microsoft Asia)
Celine Mok
[email protected]

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