“The U.S has Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk…whose innovations changed the world. From that context, write an opinion paragraph of 200 words answering the question: How to have Vietnam’s Steve Jobs?”
That was the question featured in the Literature paper of Vietnam’s 2026 National High School Graduation Exam, held on June 11–12. It was posed to 1.2 million students across the country, all of whom must take Literature as a compulsory subject to earn their high school diploma.
Yet the question was never really about the exam itself. Rather, it reflects a broader national aspiration: to nurture innovators, entrepreneurs, and visionaries capable of driving Vietnam’s next wave of economic and technological growth.
Why does Vietnam ask students to find its own Steve Jobs?
Besides Steve Jobs, the exam paper also listed Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk as those “whose innovation has changed the world”.
Innovation has become one of the key drivers in Vietnam’s development agenda. In a speech on September 29, 2025, President, General Secretary To Lam stressed that science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation are no longer optional, but critical to the country’s future growth.
He argued that Vietnam cannot continue developing in the same way it has in the past. The country is increasingly looking to science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation as new growth drivers and strategic tools for achieving sustainable development. “If we do not move faster, we will fall behind,” President To Lam said.
In recent years, Vietnam has made notable progress. The country ranked 44th out of 135 countries in the 2025 Global Innovation Index, placing third in ASEAN behind Singapore and Malaysia. It has also consistently outperformed its level of development in innovation rankings. At the same time, global technology companies such as NVIDIA, Apple, Google, Qualcomm, Intel, Meta, AMD, and Samsung have expanded their investments in Vietnam, particularly in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and research and development.
While the numbers appear promising, Vietnam’s innovation journey still faces significant challenges.
The country’s spending on research and development (R&D) remains relatively low, accounting for only around 0.5% of GDP in 2025. This falls well below the global average of 2.3% and lags behind regional peers such as China (2.5%), Singapore (1.9%), and Malaysia (1%).
Experts say Vietnam’s R&D ecosystem remains fragmented, with limited collaboration between large corporations, research institutes, and universities. The country's ability to develop and control core technologies also remains constrained, largely due to a shortage of highly skilled talent and difficulties in attracting long-term investment capital.
Against this backdrop, the appearance of Steve Jobs in a national exam is not merely an academic exercise. For policymakers and educators, figures like Steve Jobs symbolize the kind of talent Vietnam hopes to cultivate: people who can transform ideas into products, build globally competitive companies, and create new industries.
In that sense, asking students how Vietnam can find its own Steve Jobs reflects a national wager: that the country's future competitiveness and prosperity will be shaped by young people capable of creating, innovating, and building what has never existed before.
Does Vietnam really need its own Steve Jobs?
Soon after the exam paper was released, the question sparked debate. A VnExpress poll of 8,338 readers found that 58% viewed it as unfamiliar and difficult for many students.
Some educators argued that the topic was too ambitious for high school students. They also questioned whether the exam was equally accessible to all candidates. References to figures such as Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg may be less familiar to students from remote or underprivileged areas, who often have fewer opportunities to engage with global technology trends.
Many teachers, parents, and observers also argued that the exam emphasised too much on individual success stories. Steve Jobs did not emerge simply because a country wanted one. He was the product of a unique ecosystem—one that combined world-class universities, abundant venture capital, a culture that tolerated failure, and decades of investment in science and technology.
If Vietnam hopes to produce its own transformative innovators, the answer lies in more than the ambition and talent of 18-year-old students. It also depends on the broader ecosystem surrounding them: the quality of education, access to opportunities, support for research and entrepreneurship, and a society willing to invest in innovation over the long term.
Moreover, every country develops under a different set of historical, economic, and social circumstances. What worked for Silicon Valley may not fully work in Vietnam. Rather than replicating another country's icons, Vietnam's long-term success may depend on strengthening its own innovation ecosystem and building on its own competitive advantages.
The question, then, may not be how Vietnam can find its own Steve Jobs. It may be how Vietnam can create an environment where many innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and builders can emerge—and where the next breakthrough idea has a chance to succeed.
