With the extensive integration of Vietnam into the global economy, finding high-quality human resources in accounting is a top priority for domestic and foreign businesses alike.
Dr Phan Thanh Hai, Dean of the DTU Faculty of Accounting
This provides not only training institutions but even accounting students with many opportunities and challenges. To get a better understanding of the field, we had a very interesting interview with Dr Phan Thanh Hai, Dean of the Faculty of Accounting at DTU.
Reporter: Accounting is sometimes compared to the competent right hand of an agency or business. What can you tell us about the role and the requirements of accounting manpower in the current context of an increasing number of businesses being established?
Dr. Phan Thanh Hai: For organizations, whether commercial businesses or in public administration, accounting is an important element, for the informative and examinational functions it has. Thanks to accounting, the financial situation of an organization can be closely monitored and information for internal and external interested parties can be selected and carefully examined. Accounting also has an advisory function, supporting the strategic decision-making of the leadership, and can affect the survival and development of an organization.
In recent years, the demand for manpower in accounting has been continuously increasing, especially when it comes to high-quality people. Newly established businesses or businesses undergoing restructuration, and even those that have been operating for a long time, all thirst for capable and highly qualified accounting manpower. All businesses hope for a really high-quality, professional, and highly skilled team. This is also the moment for accounting to go back to its golden age, commensurate with its role and its importance.
Reporter: The demand for manpower is so high, but in recent years quite many accounting graduates couldn’t find jobs. Would this be because the number of accounting graduates per year is too high or because training quality doesn’t yet meet business requirements?
Dr Phan Thanh Hai: In the last five years, the number of people pursuing studies in accounting has fallen drastically. In addition to objective reasons such as the expansion and diversification of majors providing applicants with a wider choice, one should mention the training quality of accounting students, which isn’t yet up to par and doesn’t yet meet business requirements, such that accounting graduates don’t find jobs. This is why universities should, more than ever, rapidly find solutions for this difficult problem, to overcome the situation of accounting graduates ending up unemployed while businesses still thirst for accounting manpower, even though they offer attractive salaries and many other perks.
Reporter: Which methods did DTU choose to solve this issue and improve the accounting human resources it trains?
Dr Phan Thanh Hai: For DTU, the issue of quality is of great concern for all its majors, including those in accounting. In recent years, we have been gradually improving the training quality of accounting manpower through the following methods:
Firstly, we regularly innovate and update the curriculums in accounting based on external referencing, even importing advanced programs from other countries around the world, such as
- a collaboration with Pennsylvania State University in the US, one of the fifty leading institutions in economics and business administration in the US according to U.S. News 2018, for advanced training programs in Accounting, Finance and Banking, and Business Administration,
- consulting professional accounting standards training programs at professional organizations like ACCA, ICAEW, and CPA Australia.
- ask experts working at local businesses or businesses in nearby areas for opinions, to modify and amend our programs and adjust them to the desires and requirements of those businesses.
Secondly, we implemented a diversification of pedagogical methods - the PBL pedagogical method - Problem-Based Learning/Project-Based Learning. In addition, we also invite experts and staff actually working in accounting to engage in exchange and to directly teach students to give advice and answer questions.
Thirdly, we implemented a strengthening of business relations aimed at finding internships and jobs for students already at the start of their third and fourth years. This helps students have many interactions with real accounting work at a business. In addition to these core solutions, we also pay a lot of attention to training lecturers to improve them, selecting standard textbooks, and upgrading facilities.
DTU organizes many activities for students to exchange and obtain additional professional knowledge
Reporter: Businesses have recently started paying attention to Bachelors of Accounting with international certificates. What can you say about this?
Dr Phan Thanh Hai: Businesses have been awaiting the trend of selecting Bachelors of Accounting with international certificates for a long time. This is because an international certificate proves not only that the learner has a good professional level, but also confirms that the candidate is hard-working, resilient, open to learning new things, and puts a lot of effort into self-improvement. Practice shows that possessing relevant international certificates like CAT, ACCA, or CFA in addition to a university degree gives candidates a red carpet welcome at businesses, who offer them jobs with very good perks.
Aware of this, very early on DTU signed agreements with many prestigious organizations and businesses in accounting and auditing, such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants or ACCA, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales or ICAEW, Certified Practising Accountant or CPA Australia, the Vietnam Association of Certified Public Accountants or VACPA, and many organizations that represent these prestigious accounting training institutions in Vietnam, such as Smart Trains, FTMS, and Vietsourcing - to train DTU students and provide them with certificates.
Reporter: Choosing a major plays an important role and allows students to find a good job position. Which majors does DTU currently offer in accounting, and what is the relevance of these majors on the labor market?
Dr Phan Thanh Hai: DTU currently offers accounting majors in three different types of program:
• Advanced and International programs in collaboration with Pennsylvania State University, or PSU for short, in the US,
• the Talent program in Accounting,
• the large-scale accounting programs:
• Accounting and Auditing,
• Corporate Accounting,
• State Accounting,
• Managerial Accounting,
• Tax and Tax Consultancy
Each specific training program will be appropriate to the requirements, interests, and situation of each applicant. However, with its continuous investment in facilities and educational improvement for accounting, DTU is confident it will meet student requirements well and provide society with truly high-quality human resources. DTU students of accounting currently hold very important positions at businesses and administration agencies, such as deputy director, financial director, chief accountant, auditor, and auditing manager.
Reporter: Thank you professor!
In 2019, DTU continues awarding preferential scholarships to Accounting students:
- 720 DTU scholarships, 1 million to 5 million dong each, for applicants with High School Graduation three-subject exam score three points higher than the admissions minimum.
- 700 cholarships for applicants with a high school transcript score of 22 or above.
- 39 Full scholarships: 100% of tuition fee, with total value of 3 billion dong, for applicants to the advanced and international programs - CMU, PSU, CSU, PNU, with a total High School Graduation Exam three-subject score of 22 or above.
- 10 scholarships from Pennsylvania State University (PSU): 10 million dong each.
- Twenty scholarships, 5 million dong each to applicants of Advanced PSU program.
- Talent scholarships: (full or partial): 215 scholarships with a total value of 11 billion dong, for Managerial Accounting applicants with a 2019 High School Graduation Exam three-subject score of 20 or higher.
For further information please contact:
The DTU Enrolment Center at 254 Nguyen Van Linh, Danang
Hot line: 1 900 2252 - 090 529 4390 - 090 529 4391
Website: http://tuyensinh.duytan.edu.vn
Email: tuyensinh@duytan.edu.vn
(Media Center)