rhetorical factorize: Integration opportunity for Vietnam's university education ...

(VEN) ? With a source of young skilled workforce and human resources, Vietnam has a good opportunity to innovate, develop and integrate into the global university education through innovative efforts and cooperation and coordination in higher education and training operations, especially in high-tech specialties.

In the past few years, Vietnam?s university education system has been developing very rapidly. In the 2001-2011 period, the number of university students increased steadily by nine percent. On average, eight universities and 12 junior colleges were established every year. The ratio of students on 10,000 people increased from 162 in 2001 to 251 in 2011. During the period, especially since 2005 Vietnam?s university education carried out many reforms such as implementation of new teaching programs and international cooperation programs and application of the credit training. Many support policies to boost university education programs were also implemented. For example, the State granted pilot financial self-control schemes to universities and provided them with financial aid to undertake scientific researches.

Master of Arts Nguyen Huu Son from the Saigon University said Vietnam?s university education has accessed the world?s latest and most advanced scientific knowledge. Many universities have also been able to coordinate with famous international universities and received many supports and financial aids from financial institutions and non-governmental organizations through a series of educational projects and some scientific and technological forms. Therefore, Vietnam needs to take measures to grasp this opportunity to develop and integrate into the world?s university education.

Doctor Tran Hai Linh from Biological Technique Department of Inha University said Vietnam has a large number of overseas Vietnamese, many of those are scientists and researchers. They can act as an effective bridge for educational and training cooperation between Vietnamese and foreign universities. Besides, Vietnamese universities themselves have also acted on their own initiative in their education alliance, cooperation and student exchange programs with high-rank universities all over the world. These education alliance programs have been highly appreciated and recognized by the magazine Times Higher Education World University Ranking. Vietnamese universities have also boosted cooperation in doing scientific research with the US, Australia, European countries and Taiwan?s territory.

A good example is the Center for International Education (CIE) of Ho Chi Minh City National University which has successfully maintained the cooperation of a network of nearly 20 universities from the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Also, Vietnamese German University also had education alliance with the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences and the Technical University of Berlin to launch advanced training programs in specialties such as Global Production Management or Computer Techniques. They all target to improve the quality of Vietnam?s university education and build a high quality workforce to serve the country?s industrialization.

The chance for Vietnam?s university education development and integration is more real as the World Bank approved a total of US$150 million to help Vietnam sustain the implementation of the Higher Education Reforms Agenda, and to raise school readiness for five year old children.

Accordingly, US$50 million under the Higher Education Development Policy Operations 3 will be used to support the implementation of policies designed to strengthen governance, financing and quality of higher education by: improving the responsiveness of higher education and research and increase the quantitative capacity of the system; enhancing fiscal transparency, sustainability and effectiveness of the higher education sector; and improving the quality of Higher Education institutions.

In a working session with the Board of Directors of Vietnamese German University, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan stressed that to develop university education, apart from encouraging students, universities need to stick to the human resources demand in Vietnam and point out that students after graduating would be offered to do suitable jobs. They should establish a Social Relation Department to introduce themselves, respond and clear up queries of students and Vietnamese and foreign enterprises operating in Vietnam. In the long term, social benefits such as accommodation, number of inhabitant and other administrative procedures need to be ensured to teams of lecturers and science researchers to facilitate their works.

Dr Jurgen Mallon, the President of Vietnamese German University affirmed that to develop Higher Education in general, including his university, policies in terms of tuition fees and scholarships should be adopted to attract students. In addition, personal income tax of foreign professors and lecturers should also be reduced so that they could work and contribute for a long time in Vietnam.

Educational experts also stated that to help Vietnam?s university education integrate into the world system, Vietnam needs to step by step increase values of its certificates and qualifications in conformity with international standards. It also needs to make reforms in organizing, managing and operating universities; improve capability and specialism of lecturers; put new achievements into practice to develop science and technology in education and evaluate and verify education and training quality according to international standards./.

By Tran Hien & Hong Anh

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