Making universal education a priority for sustainable development: The EU, Vietnam and education

This article highlights the need to bring education to the forefront of EU policies to promote sustainable development in Vietnam. The EU is increasingly concerned with promoting sustainable development worldwide. It does this in its aid policies, and since 2010, it has included in its trade agreements provisions on labour, environmental and gender rights. But what about education rights? This article analyses the role of the EU and the Vietnamese government in the field of education. It argues that both actors could pay more attention to education, and in particular to the problem of unequal access to education for poor and minority children in Vietnam. To improve educational opportunity, both direct funding for the system and contextual support for students are needed. In remote and poor areas, Vietnam and the EU should provide increased salaries for teachers to reduce corruption, funding to support families, local social enterprises and improved local infrastructure. The article ‘double‐decenters’ the study of European foreign policy by (1) focusing first on education policy issues in the targeted state and then on EU policy and (2) listening not only to the government but also the citizens of Vietnam.