VIETNAMESE - GERMAN UNIVERSITY

ACEDEMIC WRITING COURSE

Researcher: Trần Nguyễn Hoàng Tú

Student ID: 14703

REPORT ON SEX Group: D5

Instructor: Mr. James Drinkwater

EDUCATION IN
VIETNAM
From the young generation’s perspective

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Abstract
Sex education has always been a complex topic as its importance is undeniable yet many
countries including Vietnam have been struggling to find the most effective approaches to this
sensitive matter. This research, therefore, was conducted to have a better insight into the
general situation of sex education in Vietnam as well as the expectation the young generation is
holding for this type of education. Through an online survey, the opinions of 120 people were
collected, analyzed and compared to a study about Sexuality education in Asia and the Pacific
by UNESCO Office Bangkok and Regional Bureau for Education in Asia and the Pacific (2012).
The results suggest that it was the religious and cultural sensitivities that block the
implementation of sex education in Vietnam. Furthermore, comprehensive sex education
programs, from Vietnamese young generation’s view, should begin in elementary school and
cover a wide range of sexual knowledge and topics.

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Contents
1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
2. Methodology ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
3. Results ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
4. Discussion ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8
5. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10
6. References ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 11
7. Appendix ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 12

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 1. Introduction
Although sex is one of the basic needs of humans, this topic has been avoided and deemed as a
taboo in numerous countries including Vietnam. As a result, not until recently are Vietnamese
students given sex education at school. Therefore, in order to improve the quality of sex
education in Vietnam, there are several aspects that need to be changed and updated. This
survey was conducted with the aim to have a better insight into the general situation of sex
education in Vietnam, as well as the opinions of the young generation on this type of education.

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 2. Methodology
A questionnaire, which included six questions asking different sides regarding sex education
and two questions for the gender and age, was created by Google Form. Besides some
suggesting answers for the questions, participants are encouraged to contribute their thoughts.
In this survey, convenience sampling method was applied because of two main reasons. The
first one is its cost-effectiveness since this survey was an individual work and was not funded.
The second reason is that data collection can be facilitated in a short duration of time as there
was a time limit for the research.
Facebook was chosen to be the posting platform because of its popularity with a wide variety of
users. Although, there was no restriction to who can fill in the form in order to cover as many
perspectives as possible, the survey was shared mostly among high school and university
students, who strongly represent the young generation of Vietnam. After one week
(06/03/2019 – 13/03/2019) of opening, there were 120 participants in this survey.

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 3. Results

Among 120 participants, there were 60 females, 50 males and 10 people from LGBTQ+
community. Most of the participants are in the stage of high school or university, with 53% at
19 to 22 years old, 38% at 15 to 18 years old, and the others are mostly above 22 years old.

I. The general situation of sex education in Vietnam

From the chart, embarrassment and awkwardness were the main obstacles for sex education in
Vietnam, which was chosen by 86% of the participants. Following that, 66% believed that
traditional values and religions were also the leading factors preventing Vietnam from sex
education. A small proportion of 7% deemed unnecessity as a reason, while some other
opinions suggested the unawareness, underestimation of parents and the conservative attitude
towards sex education.

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 II. Elements regarding to Sex Education
i) WHEN – when should sex education start?

As illustrated in the pie chart, there are two main opinions regarding this question. While nearly
half of the participants (47%) suggest that sex education should start in middle school, another
significant 40% consider primary school a better time. High school was supported by only a
small minority of 8%. The other 5% of the participants agree that sex education should start as
soon as children begin to be curious about such matter, for instance, how he or she was born
and their bodies.
ii) WHO – who should be mainly responsible for sex education?

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In terms of this question, three-fourths of the participants believe that sex education should be
taught by both parents and teachers. Whereas 12% of the responses reveal that they would like
to have well- trained experts as their guides, an approximately similar number (10%) prefer
their parents. For the other 3%, some show no opinions towards this matter while others think
that everyone should be primarily responsible for the knowledge themselves.
iii) WHAT - What should be taught in sex education programs besides the basic
knowledge?

 Note:
+ The basic knowledge mentioned includes biological aspects (body, puberty,
intercourse), pregnancy prevention, the use of contraception, etc.
+ Social sex issues: sexual harassment, sexting online, etc.
+ The emotional aspect of sex: the experience of different emotions before, during and
after sex such as anxiety, guilt or disgust.
As seen in the graph, social sex issues were strongly suggested to be discussed in sex education
class by approximately 80% of the participants. LGBTQ+ Community was also considered an
important subject by 63%. The emotional aspect of sex and Pornography are the other two
matters which are interested in by 56%. In the Others section, obstetrics and gynecology, sexual
techniques (fetish, positions) and communication before having sex (consent) were
recommended.

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 4. Discussion
The survey goal is to have a deeper understanding of the overall situation of sex education in
Vietnam including the hindrances and expectations concentrating mainly on the young
generation’s perspective.
Regarding the overall situation of sex education, particularly the obstacles which sex education
in Vietnam is facing, there were two main underlying reasons: religious and cultural belief (86%)
along with embarrassment and awkwardness (66%). As an Asian country – whose culture values
virginity, chastity, innocence and subjugation of women (Zimmerman, 2015), it was the
conservative mindset that keeps sex being discussed behind closed doors and consequently
causes embarrassment and awkwardness. In addition, the barrier, between the necessary
content needed to be delivered in sex education and what is deemed as acceptable from moral
and religious views, is indeed obscure, which thus hinders the discussion of some sensitive
topics such as premarital sex and abortion.
Moving to the opinions of Vietnamese young generation on an ideal sex education program,
the first element that needs to be determined is the stage at which sex education starts. This
factor is of utmost importance since other factors such as the content, the teaching approaches
should be accordingly designed. The study stated that Vietnam was one of five countries
(Bangladesh, Maldives, PNG, Philippines,and Vietnam) which “specify that sexuality education
should be provided from the primary level up.” This does match with the hope of young
adolescents in Vietnam as in this question, 87% of the participants chose elementary school
and middle school. One possible reason explaining this result could be the burgeoning number
of inappropriate sexual behaviors incidents, which unfortunately happens mostly to elementary
and middle school students. This phenomenon, hence, raises the awareness of sex education
for this specific stage of age.
The people who are in charge of sex education is another essential factor that should be taken
into consideration. It can be predicted that most of the participants (75%) hope to have both
parents and teachers since their guiders since families and teachers are the most reliable
people for anyone. However, for other participants, sharing these wonders with teachers and
families can affect their relationships and intimacy as they are afraid of being secretly judged.
As a result, 12% of the participants suggest having a sexologist as an alternative. They claim that
although parents and teachers can create an open atmosphere, sexologists are ones who have
deep and professional knowledge about the aspect and give honest answers to all their
questions. On the other hand, compared to the study, the responsibility of transmission sex
education to young generation should be shared not only among families and schools but also
with the participation of “ministries, sectors, social organizations and communities”.
Involving the content of sex education classes, besides biological knowledge, 79% of the
participants agree that sex education should cover societal issues relating to sex, for instance,

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LGBTQ+ Community, sexual harassment and feminism movements. Following that, as safe sex
or personal hygiene is no longer a concern, people start to concentrate more on the pleasure of
sex expressing through Pornography (56%), and the impacts of sex on emotions (56%). This
finding infers that sex is now not only deemed as a biological need but also perceived as an
indispensable part of a healthy mental life.
It is important to acknowledge that there are a number of limitations to this research

 The participants are mostly high school and university students in Ho Chi Minh City who
are from international schools and have good English proficiency, therefore, their
perspective is from a modern and open angle thanks to their early exposure to the
Internet and Western culture. For this reason, the result cannot fully represent the
opinions of those who are living in the suburban or rural areas of Vietnam, which
accounts for 67,8% (2017) of the working force (above 15 years old) population.
Therefore, in order to have a more throughout overview of sex education in Vietnam
and design more effective programs, it is advisable that the government and social
institutions conduct further research on this matter covering provincial areas as well.
 The definition of youth differs across countries in terms of the age range covered.
 The content of sex education is broad and there are several issues related to sexuality
education which were not mentioned and included in this research such as HIV, family
planning, abortion and transmission of sexual diseases.

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 5. Conclusion
In order to achieve the objective of Draft of National Strategies for Vietnamese Youth
Development (2011-2020): “strengthening primary health care, reproductive health and social
evils prevention and control among the youth”, sex education for the youth should be more
focused and improved. As a developing Asian country, well-designed, culturally sensitive sex
education programs, which don’t lead to moral decay, are essential to prepare informed and
skilled teenagers who have the ability to navigate the complex world they live in, according to
the beliefs in which they were raised. Sex education should start as soon as one enters
elementary school and the responsibility should be shared between families, schools as well as
social organizations and communities. Lastly, the content of sex education should always be
updated in order to catch up with societal sex issues, only by then could it foster understanding,
empathy and life skills of the youth.

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6. References

i. The New York Times: The world problems with sex education by Jonathan Zimmerman
(2015)
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/09/opinion/the-worlds-problem-with-sex-
ed.html?module=inline
ii. The New York Times: Culture, religion and sex education by Nicole Cushman (2015)
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/16/opinion/culture-religion-and-sex-
education.html
iii. The Gazelle: The troubling lack of sexual education in South Asia by Aasna Sijapati
(2018)
https://www.thegazelle.org/issue/145/opinion/the-troubling-lack-of-sexual-education-
in-south-asia
iv. Sexuality education in Asia and the Pacific by UNESCO Office Bangkok and Regional
Bureau for Education in Asia and the Pacific (2012)
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000215091

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7. Appendix

Questionnaire

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