Home Preparation for National Talent Search Examination (NTSE)/ Olympiad
Chapter : 2. The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China
Looking Modern & Resistance in School
(ii) Looking Modern : The schools encouraged the adoption of Western style such as having a short haircut. But Vietnamese used to keep long hair. (iii) Resistance in Schools : (1) Teachers and students were not interested to follow the curriculum blindly. (2) The numbers of Vietnamese teachers increased in the lower classes. (3) While teaching, Vietnamese teachers quietly modified the text and criticized what was started. (4) Now schools became an important place for political and cultural battles. (5) The French wanted to strengthen their rule in Vietnam through the control of education. They tried to change the values, norms and perceptions of the rule to make them believe in the superiority of French Civilization and the inferiority of the Vietnamese. (6) The intellectuals of Vietnam felt that Vietnam was losing not just control over its territory but its very identify also. Its own culture and customs were being devalued and the people were developing a master slave mentality.