Apart from strong commercial and investment ties, in the last 15 years, Vietnam always considers the US a leading education partner and commits to creating favourable conditions for US investors. The Vietnam-US co-operation agreement signed between the US Department of State and the Ministry of Education and Training in 2008 was an important milestone in joint efforts between the two countries.
At present, more than 10,000 Vietnamese students are studying in the US and Vietnam’s policy is to continue creating conditions for graduate and postgraduate students to learn in the US, as well as to improve the quality of local universities.
One of the typical examples of Vietnam-US education cooperation is the US-Vietnam Education Task Force created in June 2008 during Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to the US. At the meeting with President Bush, the two leaders underscored the importance of cooperation on education and agreed to launch a high-level bilateral Education Task Force that will chart a roadmap and identify effective modalities for enhanced US-Vietnam education cooperation. Both leaders also welcomed the continued success of the Fulbright Program in Vietnam and the growing number of Vietnamese students who choose to study in the United States. The task force, comprising senior representatives of both governments and from higher education and business sectors, was charged with recommending ways to strengthen US-Vietnam cooperation in higher education.
The task force recognizes the pressing need for significant modernization of Vietnam’s higher educational system, including fundamental changes in governance, institutional autonomy, financing and administration, etc. This also enhances academic achievement, builds mutual understanding, and strengthens the lasting relationship between the people of both countries.
The last few years have seen significant progress in educational cooperation between Vietnam and the US; many US Universities have established partnerships in Vietnam. American Pacific University (APU) became the first American university in Vietnam approved by Ministry of Training and Education (MOET). This indicates that Vietnam and the US are putting a strong emphasis on building a roadmap for establishing American style universities in Vietnam.
In addition, the US government supports a number of programs to help Vietnam develop its human resources. One of them is the well-established Fulbright Program which has helped more than 400 Vietnamese earn advanced degrees in the United States, while bringing hundreds of American professors to Vietnam over the past 15 years. The Fulbright Economic Training Program (FETP) which for years offered a wonderfully innovative, intensive one-year economic program, now offers a two-year Master’s Degree in Public Policy, together with the Vietnam Education Fund, the Fulbright Program annually grants about US$ 10 million in scholarships for Vietnamese students and scholars.
The Vietnam Education Foundation’s (VEF) mission is to strengthen the US-Vietnam bilateral relationship through educational exchanges in sciences (natural, physical, and environmental), mathematics, medicine, and technology (including information technology). The VEF has established relationships with over 100 leading US research universities to support the programs, and has placed 267 VEF Fellows in graduate programs in 68 US universities.
At the same time, Study USA Centers in Hanoi and HCMC, managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE), provide free information about American universities and colleges. IIE also organizes several Higher Education Fairs in Vietnam each year.
Recent times saw many encouraging results between Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City and universities in the United States. These include advanced programs with the University of Illinois and the University of Portland, the cooperative training program with Rutgers University and Houston University system, the ABET program with the University of Washington, and many others. One example of success in collaboration is The Center for International Education of Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM); in collaboration with the University of Houston Clear Lake, they have deployed many cooperative training programs and sent hundreds students to the US, many of them already graduated. In addition to the cooperative programs being implemented, VNU-HCM begins to execute more cooperation in training and scientific research with Tufts University, UCLA, Missouri University and CSU Fullerton.
In addition, the University Of Hawaii Shidler College of Business has partnered with the Hanoi School of Business and most recently, the International University to deliver its first-rate Executive MBA program that will train, guide, and prepare Vietnam’s top executives who want to elevate their management skills.
As Vietnam fully emerges into the world economic stage, new demands are placed for a high quality human force in all industries. Together with policies of enhancing multifaceted ties between Vietnam and the US, as well as advantages in education cooperation, the prospects for Vietnam-US education cooperation are very high in the coming time.
Duc Khang
Vietnamese
