The Education System in Vietnam 

by Christopher Runckel, President of Runckel & Associates (www.Business-in-Asia.com)

Education and the system of higher learning and technical schools is very important to business as it provides the trained workers and also a system to transfer skills and train new employees needed in a modern business society.    In Vietnam, the economy in recent years has had a remarkable performance.  GDP growth increased 8.5% in 2006, 8.2% in 2007 and 8.5% in 2009.  In 2009, according to the Asia Development Bank (ADB)  in their latest late September, 2009 revision the bank predicted that growth would be 4.7% for all 2009.  Growth in 2010 is projected at 6.5 percent according to the same source.  Future growth is highly dependent on a high quality workforce who are better skilled and trained in modern education and with better quality language skills. Education has always had a central role in Vietnam culture and society.  It is seen as the avenue of advancement and families routinely sacrifice much to ensure their offspring get the required education.  The government of Vietnam has for some time set the priority of education in terms of its budget.  Currently, education occupies approximately 20% of all state budget expenditures and accounts for 5.5% of GDP (source: Department of Finance and Planning, MOET, 2008).  Below is a chart that shows the current  education system in Vietnam: The education system in Vietnam With a country with over 86 million people and with more than 60% under the age of 35 (Source: General Department of Statistics of Vietnam, 2009), Vietnam’s education needs for this young population are huge.  Despite attention by the government only about 1.6 million (about 2%) actually are now at higher education institutions.  Each year approximately 1.2 million students graduate from secondary education but the enrollment to higher education is only around 300 thousand (Source: Department of Higher Education, MOET). Since the combination of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education into the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in 1990, MOET has had responsibility for all education and training at the national level.  Under Vietnamese government decree 322008-ND-CP, MOET is divided into 19 separate departments and several related units, of which the most important are the following - units responsible for primary and secondary education, higher education, teacher education, adult education and the finance and planning department.  MOET’s responsibilities include every level of education including pre-school, general education, professional education, tertiary education and continuing education.  MOET’s responsibilities include: Setting of policy and promulgation of regulations affecting curriculum the research, writing and publishing of text books enrollment and student management academic assessment procedures and quality assurance infrastructure and facility maintenance staffing and personnel selection for educators development of future education plans suggesting and initially drafting proposed legislation for submission to the government for regulations of education matters such as establishment and construction of universities, policies on study abroad and building of an educated elite, scholarship, etc. Although MOET plays in many ways the lead role in education in Vietnam, there are several higher education institutions in Vietnam that are under other line ministries or government agencies.  Examples of this are the Hanoi Medical College that falls under the Ministry of Health and the Water Resource University under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.  Also, a further example of this is the two National Universities who though nominally under MOET operate independently as separate entities and report directly to the Office of the Government of Vietnam. Although MOET has the primary role in education, there is some change occurring.  Decree 85/2003 and Decree No. 166/2004/ND-CP allow local education authorities more power and responsibility to initiate long-term local education programs in their respective areas.  Further, Universities are increasingly obtaining autonomy over financing(self management of funding), training, research, human-resources, and international cooperation.  Resolution No. 14/2005, dated November 2, 2005 and the Government’s Higher Education Reform Agenda 2006-2020 have acted to require university and college managing boards to prepare their own spending plans and to implement them under oversight from MOET.  Much discussion is occurring about how these new policies and others might facilitate better quality research and teaching while also providing a legal framework of responsibility and with increased accountability. The Education Law The Education Law of 2005 sets forth more explicitly the requirements for the Vietnamese higher education system.  This law defined higher education as what one receives at the college or university level.  It further set the degrees available and the structure for pursuing them.  Under the system described in the law, a person with a high school diploma may pursue either a 4-6 year academic program for a bachelor’s degree or alternatively a 3-year academic program at a junior college.  A junior college degree holder may then continue for an additional 1-2 years to secure a bachelor’s degree.  A student with a bachelor’s degree may pursue and additional two years to qualify for a master’s degree and 3-4 years more to obtain a doctorate. The law further sets-out which institutions may grant what degrees.  Junior colleges are responsible for 3-year training programs but Universities also have some responsibilities in this area.  Universities may also offer 4-6 year training programs and with permission of the Prime Minister, master’s and doctoral degrees.  Research institutes are primarily responsible for doctoral degrees but also with the permission of the Prime Minister can provide Master’s Degrees in cooperation with Universities.  Doctorate degrees in Vietnam are more comparable in Math and Science disciplines to those in Europe and with less training than those of major U.S. institutions. Educational Institutions in Vietnam Basically there are two broad grouping of educational institutions in Vietnam; the traditional mono-disciplinary or specialized institution and the multi-disciplinary university.  The first group was the more common in Vietnam under the pre-Doi Moi (renovation) policy.  It focusses on a single area or subject of focus, for example law, fine arts, engineering, economics, etc.  In the last several years many of these former single focus institutions have taken on a multi-disciplinary focus.  For example, Hanoi University of Foreign Studies was focussed most on foreign language training now has a broader focus on business and other standard University subjects.  Multi-disciplinary universities are on the increase and there are currently 2 national universities, 3 regional universities and 14 pilot universities with more being added all the time.  Additionally, MOET has been authorized to allow the private sector to set-up colleges and universities and companies such as FPT in Hanoi and Becamex with their Mien Dong or Eastern International University in Binh Duong province are already doing this.   Vietnam already has a foreign university in the RMIT International University which opened in 2001 and now has over 3,000 students and a German University is soon to open outside Ho Chi Minh City in the South as well.  Additionally there are over 200 joint-degree or co-operation programs between Vietnam Universities and foreign institutions. The Higher Education Reform Agenda 2006-2020 has built on a changing education environment which has seen a growth in the number of public, semi-public and private higher education institutions.  Between 1999 and 2007, the total number of higher education enrollments increased by 72.5% (from 893 to 1,540,000).  The number of higher education institutions also grew markedly - from 153 in 2000 to 369 in 2008 and an even higher number today.  According to MOET, in 2008 there were more than 40 non-public universities, accounting for 25% of the total number of universities and training 188,838 students or 11.7% of the total number of students.  List of large higher education institutions in Vietnam What Does Going to University in Vietnam Cost According to the September 21, 2009 issue of the Vietnam News most public universities have announced fees of VND 240,000 (US$14) per month or VND 2.4 million for the 10-month academic year.  Others charge more, some charging VND 3.52 million a year.  The HCMC City University of Industry charges VND 110,000 per credit and its curriculum requires each student to enroll for at least 32 credits a year, which is VND 3,530,000 per year according to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.  Can Tho University in the Mekong Delta requires at least 34 credits a year at VND 80,000 each.  Many Universities are above the government announced rates according to the same article with the HCM City Open University being VND 4 million per year, the HCMC Finance-Marketing University is over VND 5.5 million and the Ton Duc Thang University is over 5-6 million.  At the HCM City Private University of Technique and Technology, the tuition fees are now VND 9.3 million.  Although these are low in international terms, they are increasing considerable in local currency terms.  For most Vietnamese students, University study at either the Bachelors, Master’s or PhD level in the U.S. is the ultimate goal.  Till now, U.S. Universities have not focussed sufficiently on attracting the many students interested.  This is changing and in a University Education fair organized by IIE in Vietnam in late September there were over 86 booths promoting mainly overseas education.