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Mai Pham
Professor Larson
ENG 071-58
8 May 2014
What Ways Can Higher Education in Vietnam Be Improved?
Education is the most basic and important part of a country. If a country want to grow
steadily, its education in general and higher education in particular have to be well-developed. In
Vietnam, the problem that is complaint frequently is education. According to General Statistic
Office website (2012), in the 2011-2012 academic year there were 215 colleges and 204
universities in Vietnam (Le 88). It was a result of a very long time for the countrys education to
grow. Despite that long time, even it had been through difficult periods such as the time it was a
colony and at war, the education still has many limits. To improve the education, especially
higher education, what will be the ways for Vietnam to do that?
Higher education is formal education that is provided by an institution of higher
education and whose successful completion is marked by conferring a university degree, i.e. a
bachelors, masters, doctorate or other diploma, as it is defined in the Higher Education and
Scientific Cooperation Strategy (Frg, Flenner, and Gruber 4). In the country mentioned above,
higher education level includes junior college (3 years) and universities (4 to 6 years) and
besides that, some universities also offer masters (2 years) and doctor of philosophy (4 years).
Next, Vietnams higher education has been through many different stages that correspond
to history. At first, Vietnam was under Chinese domination (Le 86) for nearly one thousand
years; therefore, Vietnams education was affected by the philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism,
and Buddhism. There was a great turning point of education in 1070, the time Vietnam was a

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feudal society: the establishment of Temple of Literature (Van Mieu), which was considered as
the first university of the country. Later, at the time Frenchs ideology influenced Vietnams
education (from the late 19th century to the mid of 20th one), the creation of Vietnam national
language did mark an extremely important point for the country and its education as well. After
that, during the years from 1954-1975, because of the division, the North of Vietnam followed
the Soviet and Eastern European education model while the South implemented the French and
American models (Le 86). A great number of schools in the South were taught in French and
English with Americans curriculum when it was invaded by American. However, in 1975, the
two states were reunified under the North government and all the American-affiliated higher
education institutions in the South were abolished (Le 86). In 1986, the government had a
movement which was called Renovation after 11 years following Soviet model and suffering
from economic crisis. Since the adoption of the Renovation policy, Vietnam has been making
impressive progress in increasing both the size and the quality of its national education system
(Le 86). The system has changed positively thanks to the Renovation. Nevertheless, there are still
many limits of education system in Vietnam, particularly higher education.
First of all, the most severe limit is the autonomy. Vietnamese academic institutions
remain subject to a highly centralized system of control (Vallely and Wilkinson 3). The Ministry
of Education and Training (MOET) controls most of essential aspects at the higher level (Le
87), such as curriculum, required courses, number of credits students have to take, and the access
to higher education as well. In Vietnam, if a student would like to study in a college or university,
he/she has to pass the university entrance examination. However, it is not easy to pass the exams,
which is an extremely severe competition with nearly or over one million examinees every year.
That also leads to a low rate of students who can access to colleges or universities. The control of

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government expresses clearly through party members determine what should be taught and how
to teach; even they are not professors in education field (Overland 3).
Secondly, lack of money is a limit of higher education in Vietnam. It influences in not
only schools but also students. There are many students in the country who do not have enough
money to go to school and are not provided financial aid. The research environment of
universities is not qualified, ill-equipped, and crowded with too many students. Because of the
low teaching salaries, which are approximately $150 per month, the faculty shortage cannot
improve.
Moreover, government is still conservative at many aspects, like opinion of capitalism
and the refusal of many reform proposals that were summited. There is an old Vietnamese
saying, once you get used to breast-feeding, you cant get used to cows milk (Overland 3). The
government has been influenced by feudal and backward thinking and afraid to change. Cheating
and the purchasing of degree and title also make education of the country go down. The
qualification of educated people is not truly recognized, and that causes the situations: students
misunderstand what they are taught by fake professors or an unqualified person will lead an
organization or a company and damage it in the near future. In addition, international links and
standards are problems of education. As Professor Hoang Tuy describes, the Vietnamese
academy is very inward looking and does not evaluate itself according to international standards
(Vallely and Wilkinson 4). Due to limits of education mentioned above, the educated workforce
that Vietnams economy and society demand is not satisfied with about 50 percent students
cannot find a job in the fields they have studied in more than 3 years after graduation.

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So, what ways can help higher education of that Asian country develop? The prior
solution that government should come up with is design new open-minded policies. There has to
have changes of institutional autonomy, curriculum, and financial situation. The government had
better loosen the control so that universities could have appropriate policies for students who
want to access higher education, not only through university entrance exam; it also should let
universities determine the courses and credits students need to take, what they have to learn, and
the tuition which is in allowable range. In addition, committing funds borrowed from
multilateral lenders like the World Bank willingly (Vallely and Wilkinson 5) could help
education improve because capital is going to enhance the research environment and facilities at
school where students could do experiments, study better, show off and develop their talents.
Students would be able to be supported by financial aid, which means they could study if they
desire to although they do not have enough money.
Moreover, exchange and international actors are not bad ideas. The government could
send many students to other countries which have better education so that they could learn and
study in a good environment; then, they could come back and impart what they have learned to
the next generation. According to WES, from 2000 to 2009, there were 7,039 students who
studied abroad on government scholarships, with 2,029 of those got PhDs degrees. It is good
news but not enough, Vietnam needs to try more. There should be more encouragement to
establish training programs in Vietnam for international universities, either independently or
(most commonly) in partnership with domestic institutions (Vallely and Wilkinson 6). With the
participation of developed country, students could access to new knowledge and modern
technology, global cognition, and active spirit.

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Finally, another possible solution for academy of the country currently is community
college, which is a model of U.S. education although its root goes back in 1960s. That form
provides chances to anyone who desires to access higher education; even they fail the university
entrance examination. It also has flexibility schedule, which is suitable for people have to work
and want to expand their knowledge; a lower tuition than other universities; and an associate
degree that help people find a job. Not only could the government or a professor improve the
education, but students themselves have to change their attitudes as well. Being creative, active,
self-perceiving, and hard-working is the best thing Vietnamese students could do to advance their
countrys education with the government.
In conclusion, despite of many years developing and certain achievements, higher
education in Vietnam still lags far behind a lot of countries for government and its policies, the
lack of money, the cheating, and the fall behind the international standard. The changing in
policies as well as the reforms of education, and the opening to outside are the keys to improve
this bad situation. Besides that, students need to change their attitudes in order to with the
government shape the better future.

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Works Cited
Le, Anh T. "The History and Future of Community Colleges in Vietnam." EBSCO.Wiley
Periodicals Inc.,, n.d. Web.
Overland, Martha Ann. "Higher Education Lags Behind the Times in Vietnam."EBSCO.
MasterFILEPremier, n.d. Web.
Vallely, Thomas J., and Ben Wilkinson. "Vietnamese Higher Education, Crisis
and Response." Harvard Kennedy School. N.p., n.d.Web.
"Higher Education in Vietnam: Student Growth, Faculty Shortages and International
Partnerships." World Education Services. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://www.wes.org/ewenr/10aug/practical.htm>.
Frg, Elisabeth, Michaela Flenner, and Reinhold Gruber, eds. "Higher Education and Scientific
Cooperation Strategy." Appear. N.p., n.d.Web.
<http://www.appear.at/fileadmin/icm/appear/docs/ada/strategy_higher_education.pdf>.

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