The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has just received the results from the 2024 cycle of the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) program.

This year, the program included seven participating countries: Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Vietnam conducted its national survey across 152 primary schools in 53 provinces and cities. Preliminary results indicate that Vietnamese students continue to be top performers in all three subjects - math, reading comprehension, and writing - among the participating nations. Detailed scores and rankings will be officially released by the end of 2025.

Vietnam first joined SEA-PLM in 2019, when six countries took part: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

In that 2019 cycle, Vietnamese primary students ranked first in all assessed areas, achieving an average score of 341.55 in mathematics (compared to the regional average of 304.79), 336.46 in reading (regional average: 300), and 328.01 in writing (regional average: 304.92).

The 2019 and 2024 SEA-PLM results are consistent with findings from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which evaluates the academic performance of 15-year-old students worldwide.

In the 2022 PISA assessment, Vietnamese students ranked second in ASEAN after Singapore. Notably, Vietnamese students’ math scores placed them just behind top-performing economies such as Hong Kong (China), Taiwan, and South Korea, when adjusted for socio-economic conditions.

SEA-PLM is a collaborative initiative led by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), UNICEF’s regional office, and the East Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau.

The program aims to assess the extent to which primary students in Southeast Asia meet national education goals, focusing on literacy, numeracy, writing, and global citizenship.

Conducted every five years, SEA-PLM provides a foundation for countries to monitor and improve the quality of primary education.

Thuy Nga