The right of Access to higher education: the case of Vietnam

In order to improve quality of higher education system, making it plays a significant role in preparing human resources for the country and assists the achievement of economic developme[r]

THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION:

THE CASE OF VIETNAM

A/Prof Vu Cong Hao

Hanoi Metropolitan University

1 The Education System of Vietnam: An Overview

Vietnam is located in the South East Asia region, bordering China in the north, Lao PDR and Cambodia in the west, and the Pacific Ocean in the east The total territory of Vietnam is 330,957 km2 and total population is 90.73 million3 people as of 2014.1 Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam The country is divided into 63 provinces and municipalities with 54 different ethnic groups, of which 90 per cent comprised of Kinh (Viet) people using Vietnamese as the official language2

Since Doi Moi (Innovation, 1986), Vietnam has progressed fast economic growth Before 1986, Vietnam was one of the lowest income economies with less than $100 Gross National Income (GNI) per capita in the 1980s However, thanks to Doi Moi, the country in 2015 joined the club of

lower-middle income countries3 (which include the countries with a GNI per capita of more than $1,045 but less than $4,125)

Economic development has created favorable conditions for Vietnam to promote economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to education which demonstrated through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Viet Nam has made the significant progress on Millennium Development Goal 1 (MDG 1) on poverty reduction, and from a rate of 49.2 per cent in 1992 to 3.2 per cent in 20124, though the inequalities between urban and rural areas as well as among social groups still exist Following the MDGs, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in September 2015 by Viet Nam, with the SDG 4 on education Since the independence of Vietnam (1945), the Vietnamese government has paid much attention to the development of education Since 1945, several education reforms have transformed the education5: The first (1945-1954) transformed the structure of the general education into eight years of education with three levels: primary education of four years; lower secondary education

of two years; and upper secondary education of two years The second (1955-1975)6, in the north, the

1 Source: World Bank database, accessed in July, 2015

2 Source: UN ESCAP database, accessed in July, 2015 Estimation from World populations prospects 2012

3 World Bank country and lending groups, accessed in July, 2015

4 Source: World Bank database, accessed in October, 2015.

5 MOET and UNECSO (2016), Education Financing in Viet Nam, 2009-2013

6 In this period, Vietnam was split into two parts (North and South) with different political systems and governments.

general education systems changed into a 10 years programme with four years of primary education, three years of lower secondary education, and three years of upper secondary education, while iin the south, the general education experienced several changes with the components of primary education (five years), lower secondary education (four years), and upper secondary education (three years) The third (1976-1985), the school curriculum is changed into 12 years of general education with primary and lower secondary education combined, and preparation was made for streaming in upper secondary schools The fourth (1986-2005), due to difficulties in providing sufficient public resources for the education system led to a decline in quality, the government allowed the collection of tuition fees at all levels of education with the exception of primary education, and permission was given to open private kindergartens, and semi-public and people-founded classes/schools at all levels.1

Diagram 1 Current Structure of Education System of Vietnam 2

Tiến sỹ Doctor of philosophy (1-4 năm/ 2-4 years)

Tuổi/ Age

Giáo dục Đại học (Higher Education)

Giáo dục Phổ thông (General Education)

Giáo dục Mầm non (Preschool Education)

3 tháng/

months

24

21

18

18

15

11

6

6

3

Đại học/

University (4-6 năm/ 4-6 years)

Trung học phổ thông Upper Secondary school (3 năm/ 3 years) Trung học cơ sở/ Lower Secondary (4 năm/ 4 years)

Tiểu học/ Primary school (5 năm/ 5 years)

Mẫu giáo/ Kindergarten Nhà trẻ/ Nursery

Giáo dục thường xuyên (giáo dục không chính quy) Continuing Education (Non-formal Education)

Trung học chuyên nghiệp Professional Secondary (3-4 năm/ 3-4 years)

Dạy nghề/ Vocational training Dài hạn/ Long term (1-3 năm/ 1-3 years) Ngắn hạn/ Short term (<1 năm/ <1years)

Thạc sỹ/ Masters (2 năm/ 2 years)

Cao đẳng/ College (3 năm/ 3 years)

There is ongoing comprehensive reform of education and training in Vietnam, which emphasizes education and training as the top national policy and a first priority among social economic development

plans and programs According to the World Bank, the reform is ‘to change past inappropriate

perceptions and solutions, and to forcefully propose and implement new solutions so as to halt the recession, stabilize and strengthen the system, and bring about a situation with the resources needed for continued development’3 In this regard, there were three key policies for education renovation:

1 World Bank (2013) Education in Vietnam: Development history, challenges and solutions Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1121703274255/1439264-1153425508901/ Education_Vietnam_Development.pdf.

2 Source: Viet Nam National Education for All 2015 Review, 2015.

3 World Bank (2013) Education in Vietnam: Development history, challenges and solutions, ibid

The first is to transform educational objectives from those serving the needs of the State owned economic and collective economic sectors to the needs of the market economy The second is directed

at the socialization of education by involving different stakeholders in the development of education, diversifying the types of education and exploring and utilizing different resources for educational development And the third is to democratize education by the creation of conditions that allowed for people from the community to participate in the management of education.1

2 Situation and adopted policies which promote the the right of access to higher education in Vietnam

Vietnam has a long tradition of higher education, with the first national university (‘Quoc Tu

Giam’) established since 11th and remained until the mid-nineteenth century, when Indochina was colonized by the French2 Right after that, the University of Indochina was established by the French

in the late of 1930s, which the aim at ‘training people to serve the colonial apparatus’.3

After Dien Bien Phu victory, Vietnam was divided into two parts: The Democratic Republic

of Vietnam governed by the Communist Party in the North and the Republic of Vietnam backed up

by the United States of America in the South Consequently, higher education in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was influenced by the socialist countries block, while higher education in the Republic of Vietnam followed the French and American education models4 In 1975, Vietnam was reunified after the collapse of the Republic of Vietnam, as a result, higher education in the country was merged into one system which was applied in the North

As shown in the above Diagram 1, at present, higher education in Vietnam includes four levels: college, undergraduate, master and doctorate Specifically, college- level training over 2-3 year courses

is available for upper secondary or professional and vocational secondary graduates; or over 1-2 year courses for those graduates in the same training area/discipline Undergraduate-level training over 4-6 year courses is available for upper secondary or professional and vocational secondary graduates;

or over 21/2-4 year courses for graduates from the same training area/discipline at secondary level;

or even 11/2-2 year courses for graduates in the same training area/discipline at college level Master- level training courses of 1-2 years are available for university graduates Doctorate- level training over 4 years is available for university graduates; and over 2-3 years for master degree holders

Higher education institutions in Vietnam include: Junior colleges; Colleges and universities, including those with different university members and others with only faculties, academies; Universities and research institutes are only allowed to provide master and doctorate training if they are qualified by having a sufficient pool of professors and associate professors, physical facilities, equipment and experience in taking on the responsibilities of conducting state- level scientific research

1 Dang, B.L (2003) Vietnam’s education in the first decades of the 21st century – a development strategy Hanoi: Educational Publishing House.

2 Nguyen, L (2006) Vietnam’s higher education in the transitional period.Working paper for the 28th Human Resource Development, Working Group Meeting, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

3 World Bank (2013) Ibid.

4 Brooks, T (2010) Innovation education: Problems and prospects in governance and management of the Vietnamese higher education system ISP Collection.

Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/874/.

Diagram 2 Higher education Degree Structure of Vietnam

The right to education was recognized in the first Constitution 1946 of Vienam and later re-affirmed in all subsequent constitutions (1959, 1980, 1992,2013), this right has however not yet been clarified Traditionally, in Vietnam, the right to education has been understood as the right to free primary education and the right to equal access to other levels of education2

Although the economic achievements of Doi Moi have contributed to the promotion of the right

to education in general in Vietnam, it did not immediately affect the right to higher education system until the Government issued the Decree 90/CP in 1993 affirming the country’s commitment to the unification and restructure of the higher education system and declaring the right of all people in Vietnam to pursue higher education3

The growth of the right to pursue higher education in Vietnam since 1993 is reflected in the following specific aspects:

First, the reform of higher education management system, which creates more favorable conditions for learners

Specifically, the system was bureaucratically re-structured from three agencies involved in the management of higher education to one organization (the Ministry of Education and Training or MOET) which aimed to be more responsive to the new and diverse demands of society4 Five new

1 Thu, DTH (2013), Curriculum Planning Management in Higher Education in Vietnam: The Perspective of Higher Education Institutions, Thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Curtin University.

2 Except the 1980 Constitution which stipulated that all levels of eduacation are free of charge.

3 World Bank (2008) Vietnam: Higher education and skills for growth Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank org/INTEASTASIAPACIFIC/Resources/Viet nam-HEandSkillsforGrowth.pdf.

4 Nguyen, H (2010) The impact of globalisation on higher education in China and Vietnam: Policies and practices Retrieved from http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&client=firefox- a&rls=org.mozilla:en- US:official&channel

=s&q=decentralization+of+curriculum+development+of +higher+education+in+singapore&start=40&sa=N.

higher education were established by merging a number of smaller higher education, with combined

teaching and research functions, a feature which had disappeared in the system before Doi moi1 Previously higher education were mono-disciplinary institutions, with limited research capabilities These new institutions included two national universities (i.e Hanoi National University and Ho Chi Minh City National University) and three regional universities (i.e Thai Nguyen, Da Nang and Hue Universities)2

Table 1 Types of Universities in Vietnam 3

Specialised universities Multi-disciplinary universities Open universities

- Narrowly focused or focused on a

single field of education

- Academic research capacity

(e.g University of Economics,

University of Laws, University of

Medicine)

- Wide range of study areas

- Academic research capacity

(e.g Ho Chi Minh City National University, Hue University)

- Wide range of study areas

- More accessible to students

(e.g Ho Chi Minh City Open University)

Second, the expansion of higher education institutions and the recognition of private universities, which creates more opportunities and choices for learners

Since Doi Moi in 1986, the number of higher education institutions dramatically increased, including public and private types Private higher education institutions have opened up the opportunity for hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese students to attend colleges and universities, especially in new areas that public colleges and universities do not yet have4 The position of private higher education institutions in Vietnam is increasingly strengthened, and in some areas such as Business Administration, Information Technology, etc., some private universities have gained higher credibility comparing to public ones

However, the enrolment of students in the private sector remains small compared with public sector institutions, though the private sector has been given more autonomy in terms of management comparing to public institutions Specifically, there were only 218,189 students enrolled in the private higher education in 2009, including both universities and colleges, representing 12.7 per cent of the total enrolment of students in higher education5

1 Thu, DTH (2013), ibid.

2 Thu, DTH (2013), Ibid.

3 Thu, DTH (2013), Ibid.

4 Lam, Q.T (2013) Non-public education system in Vietnam Retrieved from http://chrd.edu.vn/site/en/?p=611.

5 Dang, Q.A (2009) Recent higher education reforms in Vietnam: The role of the World Bank Working Paper Number

13 Denmark: University of Aarhus.

Table 2 Vietnam Higher education Institutions 1987-2009

Public institutions 101 111 295

Private institutions 0 15 81

Third, the growth in student enrolments in higher education

Since Doi Moi (1986), there has been a rapid growth in student enrolments in higher education

in Vietnam Specifically, student enrolments have increased 2.4 times in the period 1997-2009 and are nearly 12 times more than they were in 19872

Table 3 Student Enrolment and Graduates in Higher education Institutions in Vietnam 1987-2009

1987 1997 2009 Growth % 1987-2009 Number of higher

education 101 126 376 372 Number of students 133,136 715,231 1,719,499 1,291

Number of graduates 19,900 73,736 222,665 1,118

More recent statistics show that uuniversities and enrollment at the tertiary level has grown dramatically in Vietnam over the last decade, with the national gross enrollment ratio (college enrollment as a percentage of the total college-age population) rising from 10 percent in 2000 to 16 percent in 2005, and 25 percent in 2014, according to data from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (see the below chart)

1 MOET (2009) Báo cáo về quá trình phát triển của hệ thống giáo dục đại học: giải pháp đảm bảo chất lượng đào tạo

và nâng cao chất lượng giáo dục [Report on the development of higher education system: Solutions to ensure quality assurance and improve educational quality] Retrieved from http://www.moet.gov.vn/?page=1.19&view=1736.

2 MOET (2009) Báo cáo về quá trình phát triển của hệ thống giáo dục đại học: giải pháp đảm bảo chất lượng đào tạo

và nâng cao chất lượng giáo dục [Report on the development of higher education system: Solutions to ensure quality assurance and improve educational quality] Retrieved from http://www.moet.gov.vn/?page=1.19&view=1736.

Nevertheless, in terms of the Gross Enrolment Rate (GER), Vietnam still has a low rate compared with that of other countries Specifically, the GER of Vietnamese higher education is variously estimated in the range of 13 per cent - 16 per cent, whereas the participation rate of Australia is 82 per cent - almost six times higher than that of Vietnam2 Because of that, Vietnam has set a GER target of

45 per cent by year 2020.3 However, this target is still lower than the rate of at least 50 per cent which

is critical for sustaining a developed economy as well as for supporting solutions for international industry competitiveness, particularly in the wake of globalization4

3 National framework or mechanism on the promotion and protection of the right of access to higher education in Vietnam

The promotion and protection of the right of access to higher education is closely linked to the reform of the higher education system This issue is very interested by Vietnam due to the following reasons:

First, to meet the demand for high-level human resources for the economy: Since Doi Moi, the

market economy requires more and more high-quality human resources, which the past centralised and funded higher education system found it difficult to satisfy.5 The ability to participate effectively

in the global economy and the capacity to respond to the high economic growth rate required higher education to be revitalised so that young people were well-prepared for jobs in both the financial and industrial sectors6 The provision of a qualified workforce was, therefore, an important part of the Vietnamese Government’s strategy for higher education reform7

Second, to meet the demand for high quality higher education of local students: This nonother

pressure on Vietnamese higher education system Since Doi Moi, due to the low quality of local higher education, there was an increasing number of Vietnamese students going abroad to study or choosing to enrol in collaborative programs conducted in Vietnam by foreign universities Within two recent decades, Vietnam has risen to become a significant source of international students for a number of countries around the world, most notably Australia and the United States which, combined, enrolled 36 percent of the approximately 106,000 overseas Vietnamese students in 2012 (see below chart) China is also the other major destination of choice for Vietnamese students, enrolling 13,500

in 2011, while Asia on the whole accounts for an estimated 34 percent of international enrolments (36,000) This share is likely to grow, according to observers, who point to the price sensitivity of Vietnamese students and recruitment efforts of countries like Singapore and Taiwan, both of which are increasingly popular destinations for Vietnamese students Thus, for Vietnamese higher education

1 The GER is defined as the number of students enrolled in the sub-sector or sub-division as a proportion of the relevant age group in the population (students enrolled per 10,000 of the population).

2 Sheridan, G (2010) Vietnam Higher Education Sector Analysis In ADB Technical Assistance Consultant’s Report - Vietnam: Preparing the higher education sector development project (HESDP) Retrieved from http://www.adb.org/ Documents/Reports/Consultant/VIE/42079/42079-01- vie-tacr-03.pdf.

3 MOET (2009), ibid.

4 Sheridan, G (2010).

5 Nguyen, V.N (2006) Các giải pháp triển khai phương thức đào tạo theo tín chỉ tại trường Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội [Solutions for the implementation of the credit transfer education system at Hanoi National University] Working paper for the VUN Conference, Da Nang, 2006.

6 Thu, DTH (2013), Ibid.

7 Dang, Q.A (2009) ibid

to be more competitive, quality assurance and an expanded range of higher education opportunities were two important components of the Government’s reform strategies1

In order to improve quality of higher education system, making it plays a significant role in preparing human resources for the country and assists the achievement of economic development goals, Vietnam has implemented several reforms over the recent decades

The Education Strategic Plan for 2001-2010

The Education Strategic Plan for 2001-2010 of Vietnam was developed by the MOET with the aim of diversifying, standardising, modernising and increasing social participation in education, enabling education to actively take part in the implementation of the Socio-economic Development Plan for 2001-20102 As highlighted by UNESCO, major goals identified for the implementation of the plan were to: (i) improve education quality; (ii) undertake curriculum reform; (iii) recruit teaching staff to meet the increase in enrolment and for the quality improvement; (iv) increase effectiveness and the innovation of the teaching – learning method: from teacher centred to learner centred methods; (v) innovate the education management; (vi) create the legal basis and bring into play the internal forces for education development3

The implementation of the Education Strategic Plan for 2001-2010 was divided into two phases In Phase 1 (2001-2005), the major focus was ‘to create the basic changes in education quality, to innovate content, methods and curriculum, to build up teaching staff, to innovate education management, to enhance social participation and to create a solid base for achieving strategic goals in the second phase’ of the plan4 In order to do this, many higher education reform projects were undertaken, aimed

at ‘improving the efficiency and transparency through restructuring the institutions, the administrative

1 Thu, DTH (2013), Ibid.

2 MOET (2013), ibid.

3 UNESCO (2013) Session 8: International Commitments (EFA, MDG,PRGS) and National Education Sector Planning UNESCO Course on Decentralised Education Planning in the Context of Public Sector Management Reform Retrieved from http://www2.unescobkk.org/elib/UNESCO-MI-Course- Material/Session- 8/Paper%20 8.1.%20International%20Commitments%20&%20National%20E ducation%20SectorPlanning.pdf.

4 MOET (2013), ibid.

organisation, reforming service and public finances’ Some of these projects include revision of curricula, content and textbooks, improvements in education management and in the management and training of non-public universities, the establishment of open universities and the transfer of management to institutions2

In the Phase II (2006-2010), the Government continued its educational reforms by approving the Socio- Economic Development Plan (SEDP) The SEDP aimed to increase investment in education and ‘to reach the advanced education standards of the region and the world’.3 The SEDP’s goals were

to be achieved by improving higher education quality, including modernising curriculum and teaching methodologies, by revising budget planning and policies, human resourcing and organisational matters and by delivering stronger decentralisation and a clearer delineation of responsibilities and authority.4 The MOET claims that the Education Strategic Plan for 2001-2010 has made an impact on higher education of Vietnam, including improvements to the size and types of higher education, diversification

in the forms of education available and the increased involvement of different stakeholders in higher education reforms to meet the demands of socio-economic development of the country.5

Higher education Reform Agenda 2006-2020 (HERA)

As an extension of the earlier reform, the Government of Vietnam, with the aim of continuing the modernising the higher education system by 2020, approved a resolution to adopt ‘substantial and comprehensive renewal of Vietnam’s higher education in the 2006-2020 period’, which aims

to make Vietnamese higher education system achieve ‘international standards, highly competitive and appropriate to the socialist-oriented market mechanism’.6 The higher education Reform Agenda (HERA) was developed by the MOET to achieve these aims

HERA presented 32 ‘ambitious and broad’ objectives, covering all aspects of higher education; however, it did not specify how these objectives were to be realised over time7 Four key objectives are:8 (i) to confer legal autonomy on higher education institutions so that they can be given the right to decide and be responsible for training, research, human resource management and budget planning; (ii) to eliminate line-ministry control and to develop a mechanism for having State ownership represented within public higher education institutions; (iii) to develop a system for quality assurance and accreditation for higher education, improve on the legislative and regulatory environment and accelerate the State’s stewardship role in monitoring and inspecting the overall structure and scale of higher education; and (iv) to develop a Higher education law

1 Henaff, N., Lange, L-F., & Tran, T.K.T (2007) Vietnam country case study Country profile prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2008; Education for All 2015: Will we make it? United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

2 Thu, DTH (2013), Ibid.

3 Sheridan (2010), ibid

4 Sheridan (2010), ibid

5 MOET (2009), ibid

6 Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.(2005b) Nghị quyết số 14/2005/NQ-CP về việc đổi mới cơ bản và toàn diện giáo dục đại học Việt Nam 2006-2020 [Resolution No 14/2005/NQ-CP on the basic and total renovation of higher education in Vietnam 2006-2020] Hanoi: MOET’s Office.

7 World Bank (2008), ibid.

8 highlighted by Hayden and Lam (2007)

Three other objectives that are also of significance are: (i) full development of a higher education curriculum that supports research and provides students with career options, and that is effectively integrated, fully responsive to quality assurance processes, and delivered by higher education institutions that are properly accredited and that meet international standards; (ii) the achievement of

a marked increase in the number of qualified higher education staff and managers, sufficient to ensure that the higher education student-teacher ratio is below 20:1, and that, by 2020, at least 60 per cent of all academic staff have a masters level degree and at least 35 per cent have a doctoral degree; and (iii) the advancement of scientific and technological research and development activity within key higher education institutions, such that this activity generates at least 15 per cent of the total higher education institution revenue by 2010 and 25 per cent by 2020

In general, the HERA was to be achieved by implementing a number of reform measures to reinforce accountability for higher education management The first measure of reform was to provide higher education with more autonomy so that higher education could transfer to institutional self-management and be fully responsible for their sustainable development2 The second measure

of reform was the construction of an effective legislative system for higher education management, encompassing a redefinition of the role of the Government in the establishment and monitoring

of a quality assurance and accreditation mechanism for the higher education system3 Further, the improvement of research and development at higher education and investment in scientific and technological research for commercialisation purposes was promoted under the higher education4 All these measures were intended to make the system ‘more aligned with international standards’ in terms of educational quality.5

4 Promotion and protection of the right of access to higher education in Vietnam: Opportunities and Challenges

4.1 Opportunities

There are some favorable factors to promotion and protection of the right of access to higher education in Vietnam including:

Vietnamese tradition of fondness for learning: Vietnam is one of the countries with longstanding

tradition of fondness for learning This tradition is at present still very strong Most Vietnamese people understand the importance and significance of education, and have a deep belief in the benefits

of education Therefore, going to college becomes a motivation for most young people, and pride of families This tradition has positive impact on the enrollment rate of local universities, and drives the efforts of families to provide their children with university education Enrollment in higher education has grown dramatically over the last decade, with the national gross enrollment ratio (university/ college enrollment as a percentage of the total university/college-age population) standing at around

25 percent The number of potential students far exceeds available classroom seats These are all a good basis for promoting and protecting the right of access to higher education

1 World Bank (2008), ibid.

2 Thu, DTH (2013), Ibid.

3 Thu, DTH (2013), Ibid.

4 Thu, DTH (2013), Ibid.

5 World Bank (2008), ibid.