Diversification of higher education in Vietnam: Experiences in international cooperation and financial autonomy at the VNU - International school

This renovation process is currently facing many difficulties and challenges, the most critical of which concerns financial security in the context of a relatively weak economy. Based on an analysis of different mutations of higher education (HE) in the world and on the experiences of the International School, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU-IS), this article tries to show that the diversification of financial resources through “socialization" and internationalization is a feasible and even optimal solution for producing resources allowing Vietnamese post-secondary education to achieve and maintain international standards.
Nội dung trích xuất từ tài liệu:
Diversification of higher education in Vietnam: Experiences in international cooperation and financial autonomy at the VNU - International schoolVNU Journal of Science: Education Research, Vol. 32, No. 1 (2016) 1-9RESEARCHDiversification of Higher Education in Vietnam:Experiences in International Cooperation and FinancialAutonomy at the VNU-International SchoolNguyễn Trọng Do, Ngô Tự Lập*VNU International School,144 Xuân Thủy Str., Cầu Giấy Dist., Hanoi, VietnamAbstractSince 1986, the beginning of Vietnam’s Renovation Policy (Đổi mới), the Vietnamese educational systemhas undergone multiple reforms directed toward meeting the demands of society in terms of volume, quality andinternational values. This renovation process is currently facing many difficulties and challenges, the mostcritical of which concerns financial security in the context of a relatively weak economy. Based on an analysisof different mutations of higher education (HE) in the world and on the experiences of the InternationalSchool, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU-IS), this article tries to show that the diversification offinancial resources through “socialization and internationalization is a feasible and even optimal solutionfor producing resources allowing Vietnamese post-secondary education to achieve and maintaininternational standards.Received 02 October 2015; Revised 26 November 2015; Accepted 25 March 2016Keywords: Financial management, Internationalization of higher education, joint program, International School.1. Problem *necessary in the periods of great social change.For Vietnam and most of the former socialistcountries, the last decades of the 20th centuryand the beginning of the 21st century representone of those periods of radical change.In this article, we will focus our analysis onhigher education financial management policy,a relatively narrow but very complex area thatcauses debate not only in Vietnam but also inmany other countries, including those withhighly advanced higher education systems. Thissituation results from the fact that HE financialmanagement policy, being related to concretecultural and socio-economic contexts, requiresfundamental rethinking. This rethinking must becharacterized by a courageous willingness toThe university is not only a place fortraining people in the academic disciplines,including researchers, but also an environmentfor conducting research. As conceived by Kant,and later developed by Humboldt, the modernuniversity has developed as an institutiondominated by reason, open to the freedom ofresearch, in which new ideas are born, newsolutions are tested, and new models of socialdevelopment are developed. This specific roleof the university is particularly evident and_______*Corresponding author. Tel.: 84-903421087Email: lapnt@vnu.edu.vn12N.T. Do, N.T. Lập / VNU Journal of Science: Education Research, Vol. 32, No. 1 (2016) 1-9honestly look at our most basic conceptions of thenature and missions of the modern university.This article begins with an overview of theVietnamese HE management system and theconflicts and challenges it faces. From thisoverview, we will see that for Vietnamsocialization of financial resources is aneffective solution to build a HE system capable ofmeeting the requirements of the society. This isalso a way that allows research in humanities andsocial sciences - in this case in HE management to contribute to development in general.Our research is mainly based on theactivities observed at VNU-IS - our workplace.2. Overview of changes in Vietnam’s HEmanagement since 19862.1. Impact of mutationsThe policy of “Đổi mới” (Renovation),initiated by the Vietnamese Communist Party in1986, which acted to abandon a Soviet stylecentralized planed economy, marked a turningpoint in the contemporary history of Vietnam.After a relatively short period of time, thispolicy has enabled Vietnam, a country thensuffering from the depredations of extendedwarfare, including food shortages andinfrastructure destruction, to become one of thefastest growing economies in the world.Vietnam’s annual growth is 7% on average overthe last twenty-five years, and its GDP percapita increased from US$140 in 1976 to aboutUS$2000 in 2014, lifting Vietnam from the listof the world’s poor countries and elevating itinto the middle ranks of global economies [1].With its rapid growth, the Vietnameseeconomy has also rapidly internationalized.From 1988-2009, the Vietnamese governmentissued licenses to 12.575 foreign directinvestment (FDI) projects. The total amount ofFDI in the 1988-2013 period in Vietnamreached US$218, 8 billion. Meanwhile,Vietnams foreign investment also experienceda sharp increase. Vietnams economic opennessis also reflected in the turnover of imports andexports, currently amounting to 150% of GDP.Another change is the increase in the weightand role of the private sector. During the period2000-2009, the number of private companiesincreased on average by 22% per year. In 2008,the private sector and provided 47% of GDP(Huỳnh Bửu Sơn, 2010).The “Đổi mới” policy has exerted animportant influence on Vietnam’s nationaleducation system in general and HE inparticular. Prior to 1986, Vietnamese educationwas based on the model of the USSR. In the1980-1981 school year, the country had 85universities and colleges, with about 140,000students (Nguyễn, TH, 2009). The HE systemof the time had the following features: 1) Allinstitutions were public; 2) Most universitiesand colleges were small and narrowlyspecialized in certain areas; 3) All teaching andresearch activities were subsidized by the state;4) Teachers and managers were civil servants;5) The curricula and educational content of allcurricula were determined and controlledexclusively by the state; 6) Universities focusedmainly on teaching, while research wase ...