Duy Tan Dream

Twenty Years of the Socialization of Education Conference

On August 18^th, Duy Tan University, in conjunction with Vietnam Association of Private Universities and Colleges, held a conference on “Twenty Years of the Socialization of Education”. The conference drew many professors, educational experts and heads of institutes, universities and colleges nationwide, including Professor Tran Hong Quan, former Minister of Education and Training and Chairman of Vietnam Association of Private Universities and Colleges, Professor Science, Banh Tien Long, former Deputy Minister of Education and Training and Professor Nguyen Minh Thuyet, former Vice-Chairman of the Culture, Education, Youth and Children’s Committee of the National Assembly of Vietnam.

Professor Tran Hong Quan addresses at the conference

The conference identified the advantages and disadvantages of the socialization of education over the past twenty years and offered solutions for educational development.

Private Universities: Opportunities and Challenge

The development of the world’s economy and cultural integration has opened up new opportunities for many fields, including education. During this time, private education has become the inevitable by-product that has made a significant contribution to the changes and restructuring of traditional education. In addition, the Party and State have issued many policies advantageous to the development of private universities. As a result, many private universities have established an excellent reputation in improving the quality of education in Vietnam, including Duy Tan University, Thang Long University, Van Lang University, FPT University and so on.

However, these universities have also faced many challenges. Firstly, the importance of the need for private universities has still not been fully recognized. Secondly, the limited resources and working conditions at private universities have not met evolving social requirements. Thirdly, the poor administration of private universities is also a problem. These problems have created intense competition between public and private universities.

It is still believed that private universities are vital to the development of Vietnamese education. However, it is still necessary for them to adjust in the near future.

Innovation Must Begin By Eliminating Inequalities

Society has identified inequalities between public and private universities. This is one of the problems restricting the development of private education in Vietnam.

Professor Tran Hong Quan made many important suggestions. For example, the duration of education should be shortened and public universities should be allowed to manage themselves, like private universities. University management and teaching techniques need to be updated, with innovative new curricula, management and financial systems and international partnerships. His suggestions were made to create fairer competition among universities.

Delegates and the DTU Board of Provosts at the conference

“Self Management” - the key to innovation in private higher education

It is inevitable that private universities must be allowed to manage themselves to achieve sustainable growth. This is the key to development and innovation in private education.

Self-control does not only help the universities to identify themselves but also measure their own development. Professor Tran Hong Quan emphasized “self-control” is the important character of the universities but self-control must “obey the government sanctions”. Self-control within borders sticks private universities to the Party’s and the Government’s guidelines as well as the national orbit of education.

“Accountability “ - The foundation of innovation in higher education

Many delegates at the seminar pointed out that the Vietnamese education system is not only short of facilities but also outdated in terms of thinking, vision and accreditation systems. Doctor Le Viet Khuyen, former Deputy-Director General of the Higher Education Department, affirmed that the inadequacies in management and investment systems at both public and private universities are unregulated. Professor Lam Quang Thiep, former Director-General of the Higher Education Department also emphasized that the regulation of private universities was not consistent. These insufficiencies directly influenced the development of private universities, especially when admissions to universities have decreased over the years. The solution is to change the emphasis in education to quality and not quantity. This change is vital and suited to the mission of Vietnamese education.

Duy Tan University in the context of the socialization of education and innovation in private education

For many years, Duy Tan, the first and largest private university in the Central Region, has made numerous efforts to socialize education, to innovate and enhance the quality of education quality and to contribute significantly to the development of private education in Vietnam.

At the conference, many education specialists acknowledged Duy Tan University has become a leader in private universities nationwide through its enormous contributions to national education. Dr. Le Viet Khuyen said “In reality, private universities, such as Duy Tan University and Thang Long University, provide highly-qualified resources to the local community.

Awareness of the fact that international cooperation is the shortest way to achieve new heights in education, DTU has attached special importance to expanding its collaborations, with transfer of academic programs from well-known American universities such as California State University, Cal Poly, in Construction and Architecture, Penn State University in Economics and Tourism and Carnegie Mellon University in Information Technology.

Upon receiving compliments on the development strategy at Duy Tan University, Distinguished Teacher Le Cong Co, DTU Provost and President emphasized: “Our university will concentrate on democratic systems to develop and enhance the quality of education to supply the community with highly-qualified human resources, contributing to our economic development”.

(Board of Website Editors)