Globalization is a necessary progression for every country



PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF VIETNAMESE EDUCATION IN GLOBALIZATION

Truong Dinh Khiem

Hau Giang Community College

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Impacts Globalization on Quality in Higher Education

SEAMEO RETRACT

HO CHI MINH CITY, June 20-12, 2013

Abstracts

Globalization is helping the Vietnamese educational system to connect global system of education, widen perspective on education, improve the quality of schools, and move forward towards international values and standards. The training goal is to educate students and teach them visionary and cooperative attitude, and internationally valuable skills. Because of globalization, however, the Vietnamese educational system is dealing with many problems. Vietnamese schools are behind in comparison with regional global education system. The main reason is that there are out dated thinking coming from programs, teaching method and educational management in schools. In the article, we will discuss the effects of globalization on higher education in Vietnam and suggest solutions to improve the quality of the Vietnamese education

Keywords: problems, solutions of Vietnamese higher education.

Problems and Solutions to improve the Quality of Vietnamese Education in Globalization

Problems

Globalization is a necessary progression for every country. It has both negative and positive effects on the educational systems of nations in general and individuals in particular. However, it’s far-reaching effects are usually different in different areas, nations, regions and ethnic groups. For Vietnam, a developing country on the way to adapting to and becoming familiar with the World Trade Organizations, there is the question of how the country can create a more professional workforce, one which will support the development of the nation. To tackle this problem, the state and authority have several priorities, including improving and changing educational assessments. Thanks to globalization, the Vietnamese educational system has made increasingly positive progress in recent years; for instance, integrating theory and practice in education, creating international connections between schools, and offering scholarships for Vietnamese students [1]. However, globalization also points out some current problems in Vietnamese education, including the following.

First, the quality of education in Vietnam has not kept up with that of surrounding nations. Vietnam also has no universities that meet international standards [2]. No Vietnamese institution appears in any of the widely used league tables of leading Asian universities [3]. Currently, Vietnam universities do not satisfy the educated workforce that Vietnam’s economy and society demand. A recent research conducted by government-linked association have found that about 50 percent Vietnamese university graduates are unable to find job in their area of specialization. This is a significant evidence of the disconnection between classroom and the needs of the market. Moreover, Intel Company tested 2,000 graduating Vietnamese students for its manufacturing facility in Ho Chi Minh City about two years. Only 90 candidates or 5 percent passed, and half of those failed an English competency review [4]. Intel confirms that this is the worst result they have encountered in any country they invest in. Professor Hoang Tuy, one of the most prominent educators of the country, said that Vietnam’s education is out of tone from the civilized world [5].

We should consider that education is a business, in which our objective is to serve our students. If the quality of service is good, there will be more customers. In a globalized society, countries with the best educational systems will attract more students to their schools and universities. Every year, thousands of Vietnamese students study abroad [6], and the government has spent a large amount of money from its investment budget on these studies. According to Gribble (2011), there is the estimated $7.2 billion of overseas remittance, which makes up 8% of Vietnam's GDP in 2008 [7]. As a result, most native universities and colleges cannot compete with foreign universities to attract home and overseas students. Globalization is the process of international integration arising from the interchange [8], for example, of a national educational system with that of the world; in other words, we are not successfully competing with other countries in the global education trade.

Second, Vietnam is suffering from brain drain. Brain drain is one of the most significant problems facing most developing countries, including Vietnam. A recent study conducted by the World Bank shows that about 33% of international students in the United States of America do not return to their home countries after they finish their education. In 2010, over 690,000 international students were studying the United State of America, and most of these students would stay in America after finishing college. Particularly, 92 percent of Chinese students (128,000 total) and 81 percent of Indian students (105,000) were still in American [9]. The US’ Open Doors 2012, the annual report on international academic mobility published by the Institute of International Education, showed that Vietnam has more than 15,500 citizens studying in the USA. In addition, Vietnam currently has the eighth highest number of citizens studying in the USA [10], up from 20th five years ago. According to The Ministry of Education and Training, over 100,000 Vietnamese students studied abroad in 49 countries and territories in 2011 [11].What policies can our country use to induce them to come back and further the development of the nation? How can we appeal to not only professional and skilled Vietnamese workers, but also those from other countries?

Third, teaching-learning methods affect education in Vietnam. Vietnam’s educational system differs from that of developed nations like the United Kingdom or the United States of America. In those countries, educators mostly focus on developing individuals, and on teaching and learning methods. Students in developed nations are free to issue a challenge to their teachers, for example, to ask their teachers why they must study a subject and what benefits they can gain from it. Students can also discuss and argue with their teachers to find resolutions for problems, and sometimes they have conflicting ideas, which are always encouraged. In Vietnam, however, critical thinking is not as important as listening and understanding lessons in the classroom. Most Vietnamese teachers apply old or traditional teaching method, which means that the teacher is the primary speaker and the leaner is the primary listener [12&13]. For this reason, when Vietnamese citizens study abroad they find it difficult to raise their own ideas and opinions. For this reason, Vietnamese ability to be intellectually competitive has been low in comparison with other nations all over the world. The Global Competitiveness Report showed that Vietnam’s competitiveness assessment dropped six places to 65th on 2011 – 2012 periods [14].

Fourth, Vietnamese students are held back by problems with studying foreign languages in school. Under the Minh Tri dynasty, Japan was a poor country locked in a civil war. Like Vietnam, Japan was under threat of invasion from many other countries. The wise king of Japan pointed out that the quickest was to develop the nation was to learn from western countries [15]. Because of this, a great increase in education spread through Japan [16], and the gap in development between Japan and Western countries was shortened by about 50 years [17].It is clear that a nation, to develop, integrate in to the world economy, and fulfill its potential, needs to melt in to the stream of other nations. Foreign languages enable us to explore the outside world, as well as understand our nation more clearly. However, studying and practicing foreign languages is still a problem facing Vietnam. For example, in spite of the 7 years spent studying foreign languages in school, or even more years at college or university, most Vietnamese students have difficulty working with foreigners. Dr. Diana L. Dudzik, a senior fellow at an education ministry project on foreign language improvement also complained “Students who have studied English for seven years beginning in grade six are often not able to use English beyond simple greetings and questions such as ‘hello,’ ‘good-bye,’ and ‘what’s your name?” [18]. When they study abroad, their competitive ability is usually lower than that of foreign students with better language skills. At present, Indian and Singapore are two countries encouraging students and teachers to use English at school [20], and maybe their ambition is to have the best speakers of English as a second language in Asia.

Some suggested solutions

- Focus on cooperation in training with research centers, and well-respected universities and colleges in other countries.

- Improve students’ ability to use foreign languages such as English as did the governments of Holland and India.

- Change teaching methods from a teacher-centered classroom to a system that encourages students to work individually and in a team.

- Improve the quality of teachers because of ““The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers” [21]

- Establish independent research institutes and groups that do not rely on or report to the Department of Education and Training, which will check and judge educational quality.

- Establish education institutions with distinguishable functions in separate fields that will pursue research and also study practical applications. Examples include the University of Applied Sciences (Germany) (etc).

- Moving from “brain drain” to “brain gain”. Priority should be given to training programs in the developing countries, in centers of excellence forming regional and international networks. Highly considering working environment to attract and retain skilled human capital, etc. [22]

Conclusion

Globalization has posed both opportunities and challenges to Vietnamese higher education in the current situation. In efforts to optimize good performance in improving the quality of higher education in this age of globalization, university administrators and leaders need to recognize key effects and develop good strategies to manage such the effects. From this meeting, I hope that we will learn and share a lot of useful experience in management of effects of globalization in Vietnamese higher education system.

References

[1] Kelly, K. (2000). The higher education system in Vietnam, Institute of International Education/Vietnam, World Education Services, Volume 13, Issue 3; Retrieved 05:30, May 20, 2013, from

[2] Thomas J, Ben W (2008), Vietnamese Higher Education: Crisis and Response, ASH Institution for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School; Retrieved 06:00 May 20, 2013, from

[3] The word University Ranking, Asia University Ranking 2012-2013 Top 100. Retrieved 10:27, May 25, 2013, from

[4] Intel opens billions-dollar factory in Vietnam, (2010), . Retrieved 10:00, May 28, 2013, from

[5] The most impressive statements about education 2012, (2012), .vn. Retrieved 08:15, May 27, 2013, from

[6] Vietnam: A Rising Star on the U.S. Higher Education Scene, (2010), Word Education New and Review, Volume 23, Issue 6. Retrieved 10:00, May 27, 2013, from

[7] Gribble, C. (2011). National policies on skilled labour and the cross-border student market, with a focus on Vietnam, Springer Netherlands, Print ISBN 978-94-007-1499-1, pp 291-307

[8] Dr. Paul Teng, Internationalization of tertiary education establishment: cooperation and integration, NIE-National Institute of Education Singapore

[9] America’s Two “Brain Drains”, (2011), North Western Business Review; Retrieved 4:00, May 28, 2013, from

[10] Opendoors 2012 Fast Facts: International Student in The U.S, Institution of International Education. Retrieved 05:00, May 28, 2013, from

[11] Rising number of Vietnamese study abroad, (2012), Dan Tri International New, Retrieved 09:00, May 28, 2013, from

[12] Vietnam's education and training development strategy till 2010, (07/11/2006), chinhphu.vn (Socialist Republic of Vietnam- Government web Portal). Retrieved

09:10, May 29, 2013, from

[13] Overview on Vietnam's Education System, ired.edu.vn (Institution for Research on Educational Development). Retrieved 10:00, May 29, 2013, from

[14] The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-0212: Country Profile Highlights, 2011, World Economic Forum, . Retrieved 10:00, May 29, 2013, from

[15] Shunsuke Sumikawa (March, 1999), The Meiji Restoration: Roots of Modern Japan. Retrieved 11:00, May 29, 2013, from

[16] Education in Japan: Past and Present, 2-4p, nier.go.jp. Retrieved 13:10, May 29, 2013, from

[17] Edwin O. Reischauer (1997), The Japanese Today: Change and Continuity, Harvard University Press, 78-86p.

[18] English teaching in Vietnam: Teacher ‘re-education’, (03/27/2013), Tuoitrenews.vn. Retrieved 11:00, May 29, 2013, from

[20] Nobuyukia H (2005), English as a multicultural Language in Asia and Intercultrual Literacy, Aoyama Gakunin University, 74-75p. Retrieved 13:30, May 30 2013, from uri.edu/iaics/content/2005v14n2/06 Nobuyuki Honda.pdf

[21] McKinsey & Company (2007). “How the world’s best performing schools come out on top.”

[22] World Declaration on Higher Education for the twenty-first Century: Vison and Action, (9 October 1998), UNESCO, Article 16. Retrived 12:12, May 30, 2013, from

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