Hanoi (VNA) – A delegation from the Ministry of Education and Training, led by Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son, paid a working visit to the UK from November 20-22 to attend the Going Global 2023 event in Edinburg and meet with UK government officials and universities to enhance bilateral cooperation in higher education.

♏ The annual event, which is organised by the British Council, provides opportunities for leaders in international education to connect, share knowledge, find solutions to global issues, and foster the future of further and higher education.

Themed “Towards Sustainable, Scalable and Equitable Partnerships in Tertiary Education,” this year’s conference aims to provide a strategic forum for leaders of international education to connect and share the latest thinking on the most important issues in international education. Discussions at the event focused on how the education sector can better tackle global and national challenges and help empower lower socioeconomic groups, women, students with disabilities and students from ethnic groups or communities to have equitable and sustainable access to education. According to Maddalaine Ansell, Director Education, British Council, across the world, students and their families want to fulfill their potential, education providers want to internationalise and raise standards. Governments need access to higher-level skills to grow their economies and play their part in achieving Sustainable Development Goals. Going Global aims to provide solutions to these issues, she said.

In his remarks at the conference, Deputy Minister Son emphasised the development of technology which increases the opportunities to bring education to the community and increased access to transnational knowledge, hence the need for commitment to sharing knowledge and enhancing access to resources and learning materials.

🌟 Son also discussed the digital university model with unlimited resource sharing and creating many opportunities for learners in hard-to-reach areas, thereby increasing chances to expand access to inclusive and sustainable education.

According to UK Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, international collaboration plays such a vital role in helping unlock opportunities for learners, giving businesses the skills they need to grow, and tackling global challenges like sustainability and discrimination.  As this year marks 50 years of UK–Vietnam diplomatic relations, and 30 years of the British Council in Vietnam, the attendance of Vietnamese delegation at the event will further enhance UK–Vietnam partnership in terms of education. It will concurrently increase collaboration opportunities with UK universities, sectorial and professional bodies in teaching, learning and research. The Vietnam – UK principals’ forum on cooperation between institutes/schools and enterprises for sustainable development was also held in Edinburgh on this occasion. The forum focused on discussing the role of partnerships between universities and businesses/industries to solve global challenges in the context of technology development. It also delved into the need for energy transition which requires interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary solutions. Son said there is an increasing partnership between Vietnam and the UK higher education institutions on transnational education, training, teaching, research, and academic exchange. He valued the UK’s support for Vietnam to improve its higher education quality, to enhance cooperation between universities of both sides, and to better the quality of English teaching and learning in the Vietnamese education system./.