Professor Bui Tung had lectured in many famous universities in the world before he returned to Vietnam with the hope of introducing new education models to train new-generation leaders for Vietnam. Professor Tung is kind enough to grant an exclusive interview on his contributions to the heightening of the Vietnamese human resources to the Vietnam Business Forum.
You used to be a lecturer for many prestigious universities around the world. Would you mind telling the way to your career success?
I graduated secondary education in Nha Trang and won a scholarship for a full-time study in Switzerland. I received a doctorate in economic management from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Then, I got another scholarship to follow an information system doctorate course at New York University and worked one year for this university. After that, I had a great honour to be a lecturer for many universities in the world. I consider myself a life-time scholar and researcher. I always bear in mind a very common saying in the academic world: "If you want to learn, go to teach. If you want to teach well, do research."
If you do not do research, your knowledge will become backward faster than you think. I spend very much time to read most advanced researches and collaborate with my colleagues and postgraduates around the world to enrich my knowledge and researches.
What are the differences between the Vietnamese education system with those in other countries in the world?
I returned to Vietnam for the first time in 1994. Then, I worked as a personal advisor to former Education Minister Tran Hong Quan for two years. Thus, I had the chance to work with many universities and non-governmental organizations in Vietnam with the hope of contributing my effort to make the Vietnamese education on par with other powerful countries in the world.
If you read educational articles in recent years, you will see a disorder in the education system in Vietnam. This is unavoidable because education must undergo testing phases and learn from mistakes before it progresses or changes.
However, no one can deny that the Vietnamese education has cutting-edge improvements. Teachers are better and younger, they are trained more systematically and carefully, learning materials are easier to find than before. Learners have many more education choices, including going overseas study or enrolling foreign schools in Vietnam.
Looking to the future, I think that Vietnam should continue to invest for teacher quality improvement. A good teacher will beget a good student and a good student in his turn will force a teacher to perfect himself. This is a complete cycle of education process.
In Vietnam, what attracts your most attention?
Before working at the University of Hawaii, I used to hold similar positions in Europe, America and Asia, work as an associate professor for many universities in the world. The University of Hawaii gave me a one-off chance as its Faculty of Economics is ranked the highest in the United States. This faculty also has special concern for Vietnam.
Vietnam is my hometown. No matter where I go on this world, I always dreams of witnessing Vietnam to become a prosperous country and bring many benefits to the people. I am a teacher, and as history has proven, the education quality is a decisive factor to speed up economic development. If our training programmes are successful, it means we have made contributions to create an ideal environment for leader trainees to acquire knowledge to make future successes in their careers.
Reported by Giang Tu
Vietnamese
