Domestic universities have more opportunities than ever to improvequality because of Vietnam's integration with the rest of the world, amember of the National Council for Education and Human ResourceDevelopment has said.
Nguyen Xuan Thang told Vietnam News, theNational English language daily published by Vietnam News Agency, on thesidelines of a national education conference held on June 8 thatcooperation with international partners would help universities raisetheir standards.
But he cautioned that Vietnam should adapt those standards to the local context.
Speakingat the meeting, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Gasaid the ministry was working with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids andSocial Affairs on several reform measures.
They include a newtraining qualifications; a decree on educational stratification and theranking of universities; and detailed policies for internationalintegration.
Many universities are taking initiatives to improvetheir training quality, teaching staff, research faculties andinternational-co-operation activities.
Two national universitieswere recently included on a list the top 200 universities in Asia,according to Phan Thanh Binh, Director of Vietnam National University atHo Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM City).
Assoc Professor Nguyen HoiNghia, Deputy Director of VNU-HCM City, said that the university hadsigned more than 200 agreements with reputable universities in othercountries.
VNU-HCM City has been gradually standardising itstraining programme according to international standards, he said, addingthat it had used the "Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate" framework foreducational quality assurance.
VNU-HCM City is a member of theASEAN University Network (AUN), Francophone University Association andAsia-Pacific Association for International Education.
Thecriteria used by the AUN and the Accreditation Board for Engineering andTechnology for education assessment are also being used.
Inaddition, the Vietnam University-Hanoi (VNU-HN) has carried out manyadvanced programmes for gifted students and international researchprogrammes.
The Advanced Educational Programme in Chemistry, forinstance, uses a framework devised by the University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign (UIUC), which has sent professors to VNU-HN to teachchemistry courses. Students are also required to study English.
However,Binh of VNU-HCM City said that integrating internationally with otherinstitutions had been done without any specific roadmap, and thateducational stratification had not been carried out well.
In particular, the number of management and teaching staff using English fluently was low, he said.
Gaadded that the Government's average allocation of funds per student inVietnam was only 500 USD, which is low compared to other countries inthe region.
Professor Pham Phu of HCM City University ofTechnology added that such a low figure had contributed to the lack ofqualified human resources in the country, which hurt competitiveness.
AssocProf Tran Chi Dao of VNU-HCM City said the Government should increasetuition fees, and that universities of high quality should have a higherfee.
For poor students, the Government should provide loans with easier criteria, Dao added.
Phu said that many countries had devised policies on income-contingent loans, awarding loans based on income level.
He suggested that the Government should also use international loans for the student loan fund.
Theconference was held by VNU-HCM City in cooperation with the NationalCouncil for Education and Human Resources Development. It attracted morethan 200 domestic and foreign educational experts.-VNA
Nguyen Xuan Thang told Vietnam News, theNational English language daily published by Vietnam News Agency, on thesidelines of a national education conference held on June 8 thatcooperation with international partners would help universities raisetheir standards.
But he cautioned that Vietnam should adapt those standards to the local context.
Speakingat the meeting, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Gasaid the ministry was working with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids andSocial Affairs on several reform measures.
They include a newtraining qualifications; a decree on educational stratification and theranking of universities; and detailed policies for internationalintegration.
Many universities are taking initiatives to improvetheir training quality, teaching staff, research faculties andinternational-co-operation activities.
Two national universitieswere recently included on a list the top 200 universities in Asia,according to Phan Thanh Binh, Director of Vietnam National University atHo Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM City).
Assoc Professor Nguyen HoiNghia, Deputy Director of VNU-HCM City, said that the university hadsigned more than 200 agreements with reputable universities in othercountries.
VNU-HCM City has been gradually standardising itstraining programme according to international standards, he said, addingthat it had used the "Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate" framework foreducational quality assurance.
VNU-HCM City is a member of theASEAN University Network (AUN), Francophone University Association andAsia-Pacific Association for International Education.
Thecriteria used by the AUN and the Accreditation Board for Engineering andTechnology for education assessment are also being used.
Inaddition, the Vietnam University-Hanoi (VNU-HN) has carried out manyadvanced programmes for gifted students and international researchprogrammes.
The Advanced Educational Programme in Chemistry, forinstance, uses a framework devised by the University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign (UIUC), which has sent professors to VNU-HN to teachchemistry courses. Students are also required to study English.
However,Binh of VNU-HCM City said that integrating internationally with otherinstitutions had been done without any specific roadmap, and thateducational stratification had not been carried out well.
In particular, the number of management and teaching staff using English fluently was low, he said.
Gaadded that the Government's average allocation of funds per student inVietnam was only 500 USD, which is low compared to other countries inthe region.
Professor Pham Phu of HCM City University ofTechnology added that such a low figure had contributed to the lack ofqualified human resources in the country, which hurt competitiveness.
AssocProf Tran Chi Dao of VNU-HCM City said the Government should increasetuition fees, and that universities of high quality should have a higherfee.
For poor students, the Government should provide loans with easier criteria, Dao added.
Phu said that many countries had devised policies on income-contingent loans, awarding loans based on income level.
He suggested that the Government should also use international loans for the student loan fund.
Theconference was held by VNU-HCM City in cooperation with the NationalCouncil for Education and Human Resources Development. It attracted morethan 200 domestic and foreign educational experts.-VNA
