Vietnamese school students outperform their Indian peers and even the most disadvantaged children in Vietnam are educationally “years ahead” of those in the other country, according to an Oxford University study.

The study looked at more than 3,000 children enrolled in 56 state schools in Vietnam, all of whom came from disadvantaged as well as average or better-off backgrounds.

Ninety-five percent of the Vietnamese 10-year-olds polled could add four-digit numbers, 85 percent were able to subtract fractions, and 81 percent could find x in a simple equation, Oxford University said in the study published Monday by its Young Lives research project.   

The university cited a nationwide survey in India as showing that 47 percent of 10-year-olds failed to add two-digit numbers and 68 precent of grade-three students in public schools were unable to read tests given for first graders.

A lack of educational skills is one of the biggest problems facing the large youth populations of emerging economies, the Young Lives research said, adding that the contrast between the two countries is likely to have “significant consequences for both economies.”

The social or financial situation of a child's family in Vietnam seems to have little effect on the child's quality of education and their progress, the study said, elaborating that almost all the students surveyed made good progress in classes taught by "motivated and well-trained teachers" while poorer children started from lower attainment levels.

“The Vietnam data indicates that most pupils, regardless of background, can make good progress if they are in schools that provide effective support for their learning,' said Professor Jo Boyden, who leads the Young Lives research.

The research project has found out that disadvantaged Indian students get relatively poor academic results, pointing to poor teaching practice in the classroom as the main reason.

Young Lives concludes that Indian schools are very often failing to deliver good teaching to children from low-income backgrounds.

Many of the emerging economies will need to shift from a dependency on commodity extraction or manufacturing for export to jobs that require better educational outcomes to continue growing, the study suggested.

The improvements need to start in the schooling that children receive, and teaching standards in all schools need to give the best start to children of all backgrounds, it added.