Transformation Strategy into Knowledge Society through Education and Human Development: Lessons to Vietnam

Korea has achieved remarkable economic growth from the 1960s, known as the Miracle of Han River, through the government led export oriented economic policy. As illustrated by the 2018 World Bank database, Korea is categorized as high income, OECD country group. With few natural resources at its disposal, Korea’s achievement in joining the ranks of high income group and high-tech nations of the 21st century was due to its human resources. The driving force behind the astounding growth of Korea is education and human development. For this reason, many countries including Vietnam have taken an active interest in sharing the Korea’s experience in education development. The experience of Korea’s education that has played an integral part in the nation’s rapid economic progress has indeed become a benchmark for many developing nations. This paper attempts to elucidate the unique characteristics of the education development that Korea has achieved and new challenges that has emerged in the process of becoming a knowledge based society to be disseminated to the Vietnam. These include strategic plan, implementation action plan and finance plan. Top-down government driven policy should be balanced with gradual approach.