CBSE Class 10 Answered

The French colonization of Vietnam was justified in the name of it being a ‘civilising mission’. Education was seen as one way of civilising the ‘native’. However, the French colonizers of Vietnam were facing a dilemma in this regard. The colonial administration needed an educated local labour force to run the government. However, it was felt that once educated, nationalist forces would gain force and the educated Vietnamese might begin to question colonial domination. Moreover, French citizens living in Vietnam, called the colons, feared that they might lose their jobs - as teachers, shopkeepers, policemen - to the educated natives. Hence, they opposed policies that would give the Vietnamese full access to modern French education.