[image omitted]i m[image omitted]i, education and identity formation in contemporary Vietnam.

The views in this paper are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of CERI and IIR. In 2006 Vietnam had experienced more than two decades of reform. However, while the reforms have transformed the entire Vietnamese economy and opened the country to globalization, the education system is still very much under the Vietnamese Communist Party's control. The schoolbooks are published under close supervision of the authorities. The national autobiography in which children are instructed has not changed much since the first conceptions of the Vietnamese revolutionaries and nationalists: as in many young nations, myths and legends have a fundamental place in the national history. Moreover the historical narrative youngsters are educated in serves the purpose of justifying communist rule and the leading role of the VCP in this process: the VCP is pictured as the midwife of the Vietnamese modern nation. Since the start of the reform process, the pressures and challenges on this system of history education have been growing. However, even if some voices have now started to call for a more subdued national autobiography, the national story is clearly not to be 'de-nationalized' any time soon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]