Question

Which were the two major problems before the French in the field of colonial education in Vietnam? How did they try to solve these problems?

Answer 1

Hint: The colonialism in Vietnam lasted for around six decades.Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were all under French domination by the end of 1880’s .They were referred to as French Indochina.

Complete answer: The French colonialism in Vietnam was mainly focussed on cheap labour, profit and production. Just like all european colonialism,the French too justified their oppression by developing the principle of ‘civilising mission’. This mission was mostly targeted towards pointing out the backwardness of Vietnamese culture and upholding the European ideals of education and culture. These were theories which were used by all colonisers to justify their colonisation over Asia, Africa and South America. The two major problems which the French faced in the field of colonial education in Vietnam were:
1. The need of a local educated labour force arose during the period of French colonisation. This educated mass would help the French to establish their rule and communicate better with the people. However they also feared that education would make the Vitenamese revolt against them. This problem was solved by introducing the Vietnamese to the French culture.The textbooks gloried French culture This would help to create another France in Asia. This would help the educated people of Vietnam to see the superiority of French culture.
2.The citizens of Vietnam were afraid that they might lose their jobs to the educated Vietnamese.So they opposed French policies of education. This problem was solved by deliberately failing the students so that they were not able to get the better paid jobs.

Note: The Vietnamese society was physically transformed. Traditional local temples and pagodas were destroyed and French style architecture was built.The names of Vietnamese cities were also changed to French.