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Though the French needed an educated labour force, still what they feared was that if they educated the Vietnamese, they might in turn question their domination. So in response to this, they tried to devise policies that would lend the Vietnamese only a partial access to French education.

The Vietnamese elites were influenced much by the Chinese culture. So it was required of the French to counter this, which they did by dismantling the traditional educational system so prevalent, thereby establishing French schools for the Vietnamese. However these efforts met opposition by the teachers and also the students who revolted either by open opposition or by mere silence. The Vietnamese teachers sometimes also resorted to quietly modifying the text or rather criticizing what was stated.