Vietnam recognises the need to improve both access to education and quality. It has adopted the Dakar Education for All (EFA) Framework for Action – an initiative with greater focus on quality than those set out in the Millennium Development Goals. Vietnam’s National EFA Action Plan sets out a pathway to advance key components of the education system by 2015: early childhood care and pre-school, primary, lower-secondary and non-formal education. The Young Lives project – a long-term study tracking the well-being of 3,000 children in Vietnam and three other countries, over a period of 15 years – has identified challenges in improving education quality and ensuring equity. Young Lives highlights the importance of addressing the needs of children from rural areas, from ethnic minorities, those living with disabilities and those with poor nutrition. Enrolment is rising faster than quality. Without corrective action, many poor children are likely to leave primary school with inadequate numeracy or literacy skills.