Vietnam's primary education ranked highest among low, middle-income countries

According to the 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report, of the 31 low- and lower-middle-income countries, only Vietnam has a majority of children achieving minimum proficiency in both reading and mathematics at the end of primary school, with a rate of 91% for reading and 81% for mathematics.

By contrast, in 18 of those countries, fewer than 10% of children are reaching minimum proficiency in reading and/or mathematics.

Graphics by UNESCO's 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report

The report collected data between 2019 and 2021.

In Southeast Asia, Laos has 2% of students proficient in reading, and 7.9% proficient in mathematics by the end of primary school.

The respective figures in the Philippines, Myanmar and Cambodia are less than 20%. Malaysia is higher, ranging from 58-64%.