Roles Of International Joint Training In Vietnamese Higher Education System - Current Challenges In...

ROLES OF INTERNATIONAL JOINT TRAINING IN VIETNAMESE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM CURRENT CHALLENGES IN TRAINING QUALITY CONTROL Thuan Van Pham, Mai Thi Khuyen VNU University of Education Pham Huyen Thi Thu (Hanoi University of Architecture ) Abstract The trend of globalization and international integration is demanding that Vietnamese higher education quickly innovate its management mechanism to ensure and progressively improve the quality of training Guaranteeing the quality of international joint t[.]

HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM - CURRENT CHALLENGES

IN TRAINING QUALITY CONTROL

Thuan Van Pham, Mai Thi Khuyen VNU University of Education

Pham Huyen Thi Thu

(Hanoi University of Architecture )

Abstract: The trend of globalization and international integration is demanding that Vietnamese higher

education quickly innovate its management mechanism to ensure and progressively improve the quality of training Guaranteeing the quality of international joint training at universities has a great role in providing excellent human resources capable of profound global integration for the labor market With that in mind, ensuring the quality of transnational training is one of the priorities for common development of universities across the country Under the systematic approach and theoretical research methods, the article presents some concepts concerning the quality assurance of international joint training at Vietnamese universities; the role of international joint training at universities in Vietnam and the problems that come with it in the current context This is the theoretical basis serving as a premise to study measures to ensure the quality of international joint training at universities in Vietnam in the new context.

Keywords: roles, training, international relation, quality assurance, higher education.

1 INTRODUCTION

International joint training at universities today has brought many practical benefits to the country,

to educational institutions and to each learner At the national level, international university training has contributed to mobilizing resources to contribute to education and training in the country, meeting the increasing learning needs of students, students, reduce the amount of foreign currency “bleeding” abroad and save the state budget for education and training

However, the challenges for universities in international joint training are very strong because they have to face to pressures on quality, quality assurance, and quality assurance management, etc Quality assurance in higher education is a relatively new issue that has been ongoing for more than ten years in Vietnam There have also been many works pointing out the concepts related to accreditation and quality assurance, the constitutive elements of quality and quality assurance in higher education, the meaning of higher education accreditation, the higher education quality assurance system establishment process; at the same time, exist numerous research making recommendations for effective higher education quality assurance activities such as studies by Nguyen Quang Giao (2010, 2011) [6, 7], Nguyen Duc Chinh (2002) [4], Lam Quang Thiep (2003) [10], in prior years, and most recently, the work of Mahsood Shah and Nguyen Huu Cuong (2019) [11] as well as a number of published works in

recent scientific topics, thesis and articles It can be seen that, over the years, Vietnam has made efforts to develop a quality assurance system as part of its attempt to reform higher education (Huong Thi Pham, 2019) [12]

As one of the issues requiring quality assurance at universities, guaranteeing the standard of international joint training at universities has a great role in providing excellent human resources capable of profound global integration for the labor market, at the same time, contributing to the transfer of training technology of universities from advanced countries into application at Vietnamese universities However, in Vietnam, there have not been many studies on this issue The most typical is the work in the doctoral dissertation in educational management of author Trinh Thi Dieu Hang (2016) [8] when it comes to how to manage the quality of cross-border university training using the total quality management approach at Vietnam National University, Hanoi Therefore, the issue of ensuring the quality of international joint training needs further research and implementation

By theoretical research methods such as analysis, synthesis, comparison of texts and documents,within the framework of the article will mainly focus on three issues: (i) The concept of quality assurance of international joint training at Vietnamese universities; (ii) The role of international joint training at universities in Vietnam (iii) Issues of quality assurance of international joint training at universities in the current context

2 RESEARCH CONTENTS

2 1 International joint training forms and types

In Vietnam, deploying international joint training in universities follows either full-time or part-time training models, or part-time at foreign partner institutions Training institutions associate internationally through various means, but mainly in the following three main methods:

- University training with international links granted by foreign partners;

- Internationally linked university training permitted by foreign partners and universities;

- University training with international links awarded by universities

Internationally linked university training programs granted by foreign partners are internationalized high-quality training programs designed by higher educational institutions on the basis of close cooperation with prestigious foreign training institutions, supplementing or replacing a number of appropriate teaching modules, in accordance with Vietnam’s requirements Students will study the entire program in a foreign language (except for some subjects in the general knowledge block that are taught in Vietnamese) Higher education institutions in Vietnam actively implement the program and build a team of lecturers (with the participation of Vietnamese lecturers as well as foreign partner universities) complying with university training regulations, all the while applying the method of testing and assessment using advanced technology from countries with developed education systems

The international joint university training program permitted by a higher education institution

in Vietnam and a foreign partner is designed according to the foreign partner’s training program development process and Vietnamese higher education institutions’ regulations on creating training programs The program is subjected to cooperation agreements signed between the two parties and approved by competent authorities The training program ensures that the proportion of modules must

be undertaken by foreign lecturers (usually more than 50%); students are encouraged to defend the final thesis in a foreign language

University training with international links awarded by higher education institutions in Vietnam opens majors according to the State’s list of training disciplines promulgated by the Ministry of Education and Training or opens experimental training programs (if not on the list of the State) The training program is designed according to the regulations of the higher education institution in Vietnam and refers to the training program of the foreign partner, adjusted and supplemented to meet Vietnam’s requirements and actual conditions The training program ensures a certain percentage (usually at least 20% of the professional courses are undertaken by foreign teachers)

Regarding the legal basis, the following types and forms of international training can be listed:

2.1.1.  Types of international joint training

Details regarding international joint training are specified in Article 45 about amending and supplementing the Law on Higher Education (No: 34/2018/QH14) dated November 19, 2018 [9], which are: (1) Joint training with foreign countries means training cooperation between a higher education institution established in Vietnam and a foreign higher education institution in order to implement a training program for the granting of a diploma or certificate, but does not form a new legal entity The training association with foreign countries must ensure compliance with the provisions of the Education Law and other relevant laws;

(2) A joint training program with a foreign country is a foreign program or a program developed cooperatively by the two parties The organization of training sessions is carried out entirely in Vietnam

or partly in Vietnam and partly abroad;

(3) A foreign higher education institution that provides joint training with a Vietnamese higher education institution must be a reputable and quality training institution with written permission from the competent authority of that country, allowing training and granting diplomas in the associated field or have a valid education quality accreditation certificate issued by a lawful education quality accreditation organization The affiliated parties must ensure that the facilities, equipment, and teaching staff meet the requirements of the training program and take responsibility for the quality of the program;

(4) The Minister of Education and Training approves the project of joint training with foreign countries for the teacher training-related and health-related fields after consulting with the relevant ministries; projects concerning educational cooperation with higher education institutions are not subjected to the terms mentioned in Clause 5 of this Article;

(5) A higher education institution that meets the conditions specified in this Article as well as Clause

2, Article 32 of this Law shall be entitled to autonomously associate in university-level training; when meeting the quality accreditation standards of the university-level training program, they are entitled

to autonomously associate training at the master’s level in the relevant discipline, when meeting the quality accreditation standards for training programs at university or master’s degrees, they are entitled

to autonomously associate and train at the doctoral level in an appropriate discipline;

(6) In case the joint training program is suspended from enrollment or has its operation terminated due to failure to satisfy the conditions specified in Clause 3 of this Article, higher education institutions must ensure the legitimate interests of lecturers, employees and learners; refund tuition fees to students; pay salaries to lecturers, employees and other benefits according to the signed labor contract or collective labor agreement; pay tax debts and other debts (if any);

(7) Higher education institutions must publicize relevant information about joint training programs with foreign countries, the legitimacy of foreign diplomas granted in the degree-granting country and in Vietnam on the website of the higher education institution and the mass media; assisting learners during the process of recognition of degrees; carry out the accreditation of the affiliate program in Vietnam right after the students graduate and do the accreditation periodically;

(8) A higher education institution that conducts joint training by itself when it fails to satisfy the prescribed conditions or is unable to ensure the education quality in the project of joint training with a foreign country shall be suspended from international cooperation in education for 5 years, from the date of conclusion of the violation by the competent authority

2.1.2 Forms of linkage training

Since the introduction of the open door policy, and especially in recent years, the forms of international cooperation in higher education in Vietnam are increasingly expanding, including numerous different forms of transnational collaboration in higher education that serve other purposes:

(1) International linkages in higher education to provide educational services: In the form of

“on-site study abroad”, 2+2, 3+1 joint programs, short-term training courses with foreign lecturers of Vietnamese universities with international partners are giving learners more opportunities to gain new knowledge, skills and an “international” degree at an affordable cost Another form of this kind of cooperation is 100% foreign programs and foreign degrees, taught in Vietnam, with the expectation

of “internal cost, foreign quality” These forms, although bring some benefits to learners, diversify learning opportunities, and help them access modern knowledge, filling the gap in the training quality

of universities in the country, but mainly are for the profit of the education service providers and their partners Therefore, these forms do not contribute to the improvement of the school’s performance according to international standards, they also do not help develop the internal capacity of the schools, nor meet the long-term needs for the development of the country

(2) State-level cooperation to build completely new schools: This form has not yet become popular, although there is a typical case of a Vietnam-Germany University According to an agreement between the two states, Vietnamese-German University (VGU) has been formed in a very short time with the expectation of becoming one of the four Vietnamese universities that meet the “international standard”

in the future With an operating regulation that allows a degree of autonomy and a favorable governance mechanism, along with a significant source of initial investment capital, the Vietnamese-German University has been given many favorable conditions to operate Up to now, the Vietnamese-German University has finished its first academic year with a few dozen students There is still a long way to go for this particular university to create internationally recognized achievements in research and training,

as well as make a tangible impact on the domestic academic system, but it is clear that the formation

of Vietnamese-German University has opened up a direction of cooperation and allows us to think of Vietnamese-American, Vietnamese-French, or Vietnamese-Japanese universities, etc in the future Notably, the Ministry of Education and Training has recently issued Circular No 38/2020/TT-BGDDT [2] on regulations on training cooperation with foreign universities, master’s, and doctoral degrees online form and live form combined online This is considered a more favorable legal basis for the diversification of training forms and international relationships

Therefore, for the sake of ensuring training quality, the forms of joint training and management and coordination mechanisms are specified in Decree No 86/ND-CP dated June 6, 2018 [3], of the

Government on regulations on foreign cooperation and investment in the field of education In addition, depending on the training purposes of the schools, there are separate regulations for international joint training

2.2 The concept of quality assurance of international joint training at Vietnamese universities

Ensuring the quality of training in general, and international joint training in particular, are all based on quality assessment criteria Training quality is always the most important issue of universities, striving to improve quality is always considered the most important task of any higher education institution Despite such importance, quality is still a difficult concept to define or measure, and there are many different views on quality in higher education

The International Network of Quality Assuarance in Higher Education (INQAHE) has defined the quality of higher education Accordingly, the quality follows the prescribed standards, there should be a set of standards for higher education in all fields and the quality accreditation of a university is based on that set of standards Quality achieves the set goals

In their work “Quality management in education”, Nguyen Duc Chinh et al (2015) believed that:

“Quality assurance in education should emphasize the following characteristics: (1) Quality assurance through a set of standards established by experts; (2) Quality assurance is referred to as the set of requirements, or expectations that the school must strive to achieve; (3) Quality assurance standards are assessed by criteria and indicators; (4) Quality assurance standards may allow the development of options depending on the school” [5]

In the independent state-level scientific research project “Research and development of a set of criteria for evaluating training quality for Vietnamese universities”, author Nguyen Duc Chinh and his colleagues have summarized many important concept of education quality in general and university quality in particular, and emphasizes, “The quality of higher education is assessed by the degree of coincidence with the set goals and associated with the quality of training products such as: is the output

of the training process”

The OEM organizational factors model has given 5 evaluation factors as input, training process, output, training results and effectiveness Based on these 5 evaluation factors, scholars have come up with 5 concepts of higher education quality as follows [4]:

- Input quality: the input level satisfies the set targets and objectives

- Quality of the training process: the level of satisfaction of the teaching and learning process and other training processes

- Output quality: the level of achievement of the output (graduate students, scientific research results and other services) compared to the set of criteria or against predetermined goals

- Product quality: the degree of satisfaction of the graduate’s work requirements through the assessment of the students themselves, their parents, the employer and the society

- Quality of added value: the degree of graduates’ ability (knowledge, skills, attitudes) to contribute

to society and especially to the training system

Ensuring the quality of international training with the mission of providing high-quality human resources, able to compete in the trend of integration and globalization Therefore, to ensure the quality

of international joint training within this article, we will consider dividing the training process into

stages, specific to each job, as a basis for building a system of assurance Quality assurance: Input; progress; output, which is:

(1) Input quality: Enrollment, teaching staff, management staff, facilities, training program content and enrollment and admission

(2) Quality of training process: Training objectives, training content, teaching activities of lecturers, learning activities of students, examination and evaluation of students’ learning results, assurance conditions training activities

(3) Output quality: Graduate; diplomas and certificates; employment and career adaptability

of graduates

2.3 The role of international joint training at universities in Vietnam in the current context

2.3.1 Current context and requirements for reforming higher education in Vietnam

Along with the process of reforming the country in general, the renovation of national education, including higher education, has always been of great interest to the Party and State The document of the 13th Party Congress affirmed that “Developing human resources, education and training to meet the requirements of high-quality human resources of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and international integration” Resolution No 29-NQ/TW on “Fundamentally and comprehensively renovating education and training to meet the requirements of industrialization and modernization in the context of a socialist-oriented market economy and integration international” [1], in which nine comprehensive educational innovation solutions are listed From these nine oriented solutions, the requirements for Vietnamese higher education in the current international integration conditions are:

(i) To build an educational philosophy for the education of the country in the current period, and at the same time, each university and each educational institution should have its own educational philosophy in accordance with its principles, purposes and towards the society into the general development flow of international education

(ii) The current educational reform needs to be “associated with building a learning society; ensuring conditions for quality improvement; the education system is standardized, modernized, democratized, socialized and integrated into the world; maintaining the socialist orientation and imbued with national identity

Striving to 2030, Vietnam’s education will reach an advanced level in the region [1] At all levels and sectors, first of all, the Ministry of Education and Training needs to have a drastic change in thinking regarding higher education institutes, such as changing the way of enrollment, selecting “input” to be more open, allowing higher education institutes to set their own admission standards and be accountable

to learners by their own training “reputation”, allowing the formation of many other higher education models each other, strictly control the “output” of each training institution to ensure the overall quality, etc (iii) Strongly renovate program content and teaching methods towards international integration Program content and textbooks should be organized, developed and deployed in an open manner (allowing regular updates on domestic and foreign knowledge, using domestic or foreign textbooks and materials flexibly) to teach learners), the teaching content must be closely linked and suitable with the practical requirements of the profession that the learners are pursuing In terms of methods, it is allowed

to use a variety of teaching methods according to the principle of “taking the learner as the center”, reducing the maximum teaching hours in class so that learners have time to study and research on their

own At the same time training facilities need to regularly conduct rigorous and objective testing and evaluation to ensure the effectiveness of teaching and learning

(iv) Renovating the role of state management agencies in higher education facilities in terms of international integration Accordingly, in terms of legislation, it is necessary to continue to supplement and complete the legal provisions for higher education activities in the context of international integration State management agencies, directly the Ministry of Education and Training, need to change the way

of thinking about management of higher education activities in the context of international integration Instead of direct comprehensive management of higher education institutions, state management agencies should only play the role of “judge” agencies, directing activities according to law, and at the same time creating conditions for higher education institutions to be more independent and autonomous in their activities It is necessary to avoid thinking of management in the way of imposing, or “subsidizing” for higher education activities in the current international integration conditions

(v) Strengthen research activities and international publication, towards internationalization

of scientific assessment standards and professional activities at higher education institutions In the immediate future, the State and higher education facilities need to have mechanisms and policies

to encourage scientists to research and actively publish research results in international scientific publications In the long term, it is necessary to set out a roadmap (for each different higher education institution, it is necessary to have different routes) towards the internationalization of standards for assessing scientific and professional activities, subjects in all institutions of higher education, at the same time, it should be considered as an important solution to bring Vietnamese higher education deeper into the international environment

2.3.2 The role of international joint training at universities in Vietnam in the current context

From the above analysis, it is shown that international joint training at universities in Vietnam plays an extremely important role in creating financial resources, human resources and governance mechanisms

- For financial resources: international joint training will create scientific and technological knowledge that will bring financial resources to the school and improve the competitiveness of the country

It is the international linkage that will enhance the training and research capacity of the universities, and this capacity will bring a great source of finance through training, research and technology transfer activities In addition, international training links also play an active role in building orientation and innovation in education, scientific research and application deployment to serve the cause of innovation and industrialization, and transform the country This process gives Vietnamese universities a lot of valuable experience in renewing thinking, educational management methods, choosing directions and improving training systems and processes, and approaching closer to advanced education in the world suitable for profitable investment

- For high-quality human resources: international joint training plays an important role in orienting the development of universities towards modernity, accessing advanced higher education in the region, and in the world Through this, Vietnamese universities can draw valuable experiences in renewing thinking, educational management methods, choosing directions, improving training systems and processes, combining scientific research with teaching, and at the same time know how to take advantage of opportunities and advantages to gradually close the gap between education in Vietnam and the world In addition, this activity creates conditions for universities to develop sustainably, to provide

high-quality human resources after being trained and to attract high-quality human resources from other countries for training purposes

- For the governance mechanism: International joint training in universities is both an opportunity but also a challenge In order to create a financial and high-quality human resource, the role of governance

is extremely important, this is the most difficult problem for Vietnamese universities This shows the determination and efforts of the political system (Government/ministries/sectors/schools, )

2.4 Issues of quality assurance of international joint training at universities in the current context

2.4.1 Ensuring the quality of international linkage training with the issue of strategic planning

If approached from a management perspective, strategic planning is a management function/tool that is the first stage of the management cycle (planning - organizing - directing - checking, evaluating)

A strategic plan is a powerful tool for setting priorities and making sound decisions about the future Strategic plans are usually developed for a period of 5 to 10 years (not talking about a more macroscopic strategy with a vision of a few decades) However, it also depends on the purpose of each school to develop goals for each separate strategic plan Good planning will help the school clearly orient the future, set priorities and focus resources for implementation

A strategic plan to ensure training quality needs to be developed by schools with a full range of contents from redefining the vision and mission to developing a strategic plan and policy on training quality in general International joint training in particular is suitable for: subject, space, and time It

is a strategic plan suitable to the actual situation in the trend of innovation and integration On that basis, the training strategy will have to change/renovate the operating mechanism from management to supervision to always meet the needs of the country, in line with international standards

Developing training strategies is classified according to the length of time: short-term, medium-term and long-term This includes both primary and secondary priorities Based on the situation of schools, there are specific priorities Usually focus on two main objects that are the staff of lecturers and learners Developing policies for teaching staff: Policies to attract experts, teaching staff with high academic degrees, and teaching staff with good expertise: Specifically, salary book; working conditions policy; policies on remuneration and retraining; scientific research policy,

Developing policies for learners: Policy on tuition fees, scholarships/attraction; reward policy; discipline; output policy/employment opportunities

When developing a training strategy, it is necessary to mobilize many participants; students, lecturers, administrators, the community, etc Besides, there should be close cooperation in training with businesses and social organizations to ensure the suitability with the needs The desire of practice requires, adapting to the ever-changing labor market

Ensuring training quality is building a management system to ensure order and science; Smooth, synchronous operation ensures no errors in all stages, for all products Finally, evaluate and improve the management system to suit the school to ensure training quality The operation process requires the participation of all members of the school, the drastic direction of the school’s leaders with appropriate quality policies to motivate and encourage the participating team to be motivated to strive

2.4.2 Quality assurance of international joint training at universities with systematic structure

Based on the basis of the approach mentioned in Section 2.1, it is possible to propose a structure for the quality assurance system of international joint training at universities system cover: quality assurance of inputs; system quality assurance process elements; The system ensures the quality of the output elements Whereby:

a) The system of quality assurance of input factors is internationally linked

Quality assurance of training programs and content:

- To concretize the objectives of the program, the content of international joint training;

- Disseminate to forces implementing international joint training programs and contents;

- Ensure the quality of the program, the content is suitable for the educational objects (teachers/ organizations and learners);

- Due to its specific characteristics, it is necessary to mobilize domestic and foreign organizations

to support training content suitable to learners;

Quality assurance of forces (human resources) participating in training (collectively referred to as instructors):

- Regularly conduct training and refresher courses on training content and methods in order to improve the capacity of teachers to organize and implement training

- The school creates supportive conditions: teachers - learners - educational content suitable for students, contextual, and integration trends

Ensuring the quality of learners (students):

- Surveying learners’ needs, creating conditions for teachers to match the needs of the target audience and respect learners in the training process in order to achieve educational goals;

- Assess the quality of learners in order to create a match between learners and training content and help learners experience and apply them to real life

Ensure financial quality, facilities and facilities (conditions for training organization):

- Assess the current situation of resources: financial resources (financial); material resources (vehicles, facilities, supporting equipment, ) to plan to use or supplement/replace

- Organize the use of financial funds and facilities for the right purposes, creating conditions for training to be carried out effectively

- Check the use of resources: physical and financial resources are for the right purposes and are effective for training

b) System of quality assurance of the international joint training process

Ensuring the quality of the training process (for teachers – forces involved in education):

- Managers need to disseminate to the training participants about the goals and the need for international joint training to have implementation orientation

- Directing instructors (forces participating in international joint training) to innovate practical and effective training methods and forms

- Directing the organization of a coordination mechanism, creating close relationships with businesses, customers, etc., in order to train at the right address, in accordance with social needs

Ensure the quality of the training process of learners (students):

- Determine the training contents based on the legal bases

- Organize international joint training from the needs/wants of students and the needs of society

- Innovating the way to organize the examination and evaluation of training results to be more practical

Ensure the quality of testing and assessment of student learning outcomes:

- Organize the development of testing and evaluation criteria for students’ training

- Mobilize forces to participate in the assessment including managers, lecturers, students, businesses,

c) Output quality assurance system of international joint training

- Graduates: Create opportunities/priority for students when considering graduation, taking into

account the spirit and attitude of students participating in activities in schools

- Ensuring the quality of training output: ensuring the quality of training results (compared with

the criteria and standards of the training program included in the school’s plan/strategy); Direct the adjustment of training content (if not appropriate)

- Ensure the quality of the feedback of graduates as a basis for adjusting content and methods (if not appropriate); the level of satisfaction and satisfaction of students with what they have learned to

apply later to serve themselves and build their homeland and country

d) Contextual impact quality assurance system on international joint training

- The impact of policies, management and administration mechanisms, etc as the legal basis/base for management to ensure consistency, suitability and efficiency

- The impact of the development of science and technology will be the effects with many information channels that can be positive or negative from the perspective of teachers and learners

- The impact of economic, cultural, social factors, international trends, etc are the influences on the process of ensuring the quality of international joint training Therefore, appropriate adjustments are required

- The impact of factors belonging to schools include: Management capacity of school administrators; Competency of the teacher; Infrastructure conditions; The educational environment in schools…

3 CONCLUSIONS

Ensuring the quality of international joint training at universities plays a great role in providing high-quality human resources capable of deep international integration In terms of national interests, training associated with foreign countries has contributed to providing the society with high-quality human resources, thereby contributing to accelerating Vietnam’s international integration process Quality assurance issues are given top priority in training institutions, in which emphasis is placed

on the development of a strategic plan to ensure training quality and the structure of a training quality