5 Major Opportunities for Vietnamese Higher Education

The 5 major opportunities for Vietnamese higher education in the process of international integration were shared by Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nha (Institute of World Economics and Politics, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences) in his presentation at the 2018 Education Seminar recently held in Hanoi.

Attracting educational development resources from abroad

Analyzing this advantage, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nha writes in his presentation: Through the integration process, Vietnamese higher education has the opportunity to receive more diverse resources for development, including finance, science and technology, management culture, and especially the workforce of international-level education experts, thereby allowing Vietnamese students to “study abroad at home.”

The opening up of the educational service market will provide a legal framework for institutions to establish partnerships and seek funding from international organizations such as the WB, IMF, etc. Private institutions can also raise capital from foreign individuals and businesses, which will help solve the financial burden on the government budget and address the problem of capital shortage.

Education integration has, is, and will continue to bring a strong wave of investment from the outside. The increase in foreign investment, besides other economic benefits, will contribute to the training of highly skilled, dynamic, and creative human resources and at the same time address the employment issue for workers in many economic sectors.
Creating motivation for comprehensive reform in higher education

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nha believes that when foreign universities enter the Vietnamese market, the supply-demand balance will change. The monopoly status of domestic institutions will no longer exist, meaning there will no longer be room for poor-quality services.

Universities, whether they like it or not, must actively change to be able to survive and develop, otherwise, they risk falling behind or even being eliminated.

Proactively integrating into the market makes the competition in the higher education sector increasingly fierce, but it is also a factor that promotes profound and comprehensive innovation in our education system, aiming to build an open and democratic learning society.

Opportunities to learn from advanced education systems around the world

According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nha, integration of higher education offers developing countries in general, and Vietnam in particular, the opportunity to access modern educational models and academic programs, and advanced teaching methods of countries that have succeeded in this field; thereby, they can creatively apply these to their own country’s development.

Integration creates an opportunity to exchange experiences and learn from each other on an international scale.

These are experiences in macro-management, budget planning, and investment mobilization, developing strategies, and promoting educational development projects, experimenting with interconnected models of research–training–production linked to the labor market, within the economic-social context as well as efficient operational techniques in organizing and conducting teaching, examinations, evaluations, program development, learning materials, and educational resources.

If we proactively integrate, we are fully capable of partnering with leading universities around the world in the field of scientific research, which is a very important area that is currently weak in Vietnamese institutions. This represents a precious opportunity to update to new scientific levels, avoid falling behind the world, and also to promote many of Vietnam’s potential scientific talents.

Information technology development facilitates both teaching and learning

The process of integration with the region and the world, along with the strong development of science and technology, especially information and communication technology, is and will contribute to accelerating learning, building global information and knowledge capacity, creating extremely convenient opportunities for learners while also facilitating educational leaders to exchange and share information better with staff, parents, and students.

Furthermore, information technology has created a highly effective new form of training, online training (E-learning), making the most of the power of the Internet and electronic means to provide visual, highly interactive, and engaging learning programs for learners.

Information technology and the Internet offer economic benefits to universities. That is the reduction in the number of regular budget estimates for the units.

Opportunities to build the brand of Vietnamese Higher Education

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nha believes that integration offers an opportunity to affirm the position of Vietnamese education on the international stage. Along with deeper participation in international alliances and networks, signing more documents, and multilateral and bilateral treaties, domestic higher education institutions will have the opportunity for equal cooperation with institutions and educational organizations worldwide.

This is a crucial step towards elevating the status, role, and reputation of Vietnamese universities on an international scale.

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