Vietnamese students lead Southeast Asia in math and reading comprehension

According to the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) 2024 report released last week, seven regional countries participated in this cycle: Cambodia, Timor Leste, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, marking five years since the inaugural study in 2019 (SEA-PLM 2019).

Results for first-time entrant Timor-Leste were not released.

Published by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization and the UNICEF, SEA-PLM is a regional learning assessment and capacity-building program designed by and for Southeast Asian countries to improve relevant and equitable learning outcomes in basic education.

For the assessment, fifth-grade students in the participating countries completed tests in Mathematics and Reading Comprehension. Vietnam had 5,980 students taking the tests.

Students were grouped by proficiency levels, nine levels for Mathematics and six for Reading. Those reaching the highest level (at least 347 points in Math and 317 points in Reading) were classified as "high proficiency."

Mathematics performance

In Mathematics, 88% of Vietnamese students achieved the high-proficiency level, the highest among the participating countries, though this is down from 92% in 2019.

Apart from Vietnam and Malaysia (which dropped 11 percentage points), all other countries recorded improvements.

Vietnam also led in average Math scores with 334.6 points, a decrease of 6.8 points over five years. Malaysia's average fell by 4.8 points to 309.9, while other countries saw gains, notably Myanmar (+19.2 points) and Cambodia (+12 points).

Reading comprehension

A similar trend appeared in Reading. The proportion of Vietnamese students reaching the highest proficiency level dropped from 82% in 2019 to 66% in 2024. Malaysia's rate also fell 9 percentage points, while all other countries improved.

Vietnam continued to rank first in average Reading scores, though the score declined by 13 points since 2019. Malaysia also decreased by 5.3 points, while other countries improved between 1.1 and 13.6 points, with Myanmar recording the strongest gain.

Learning gaps and equity challenges

The report highlighted that only half of students reached the minimum proficiency level in Reading, and only one-third achieved it in Mathematics, underscoring "an urgent need to increase investment in foundational learning, prioritizing the most disadvantaged learners and schools."

Progress among the lowest-performing students remains slow, requiring targeted support.

Persistent barriers, such as gender disparities, socioeconomic inequalities, and unequal access to early learning and school resources, continue to affect student outcomes.

Socioeconomic status (SES) remains a key driver of learning inequalities. Greater efforts are needed to address these inequities and understand the multiple factors shaping and impeding learning.

Students during a class at an elementary school in Nghe An Province, central Vietnam, Nov. 13, 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Hung Le

Early learning opportunities and school resources significantly boost performance, but unequal access limits their benefits. Investments in equity-focused interventions, including quality early childhood education, teacher support, and improved learning environments, are essential to narrow achievement gaps.

Language alignment also supports learning: students generally perform better when their home language matches the test language. Aligning language policies with student needs will aid their educational development, the report suggests.

While teacher qualifications have improved, gaps in preparedness persist. Strengthening teacher capacity beyond qualifications, focusing on differentiated learning, inclusive pedagogy, and the use of information and communication technology, is necessary.

The report warns of declining investment in education and a narrowing demographic window of opportunity. It adds that the use of data-driven decision-making is still in its early stages, calling for expanding monitoring, evaluating interventions, and scaling what works to enhance policy effectiveness and ensure the impact of educational investments.