Vietnam is rising star in international education cooperation

Spoken at the seminar "Transnational Education: Leverage to Improve the Quality of Education in Vietnam" organized by the UWE Bristol@Phenikaa Campus Program and VnExpress on March 10, Assoc. Prof. Khanh was amazed when comparing Vietnam to other Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. He saw that Vietnam's transnational education market (TNE) is very developed, with figures increasing sharply each year.

Experts at the seminar "Transnational Education (TNE): Leverage to Improve the Quality of Education in Vietnam", March 10, 2024. Photo courtesy of UWE Bristol@Phenikaa Campus

According to England's Higher Education Statistics Agency, in 2021, Vietnam was one of the third largest transnational education markets in Southeast Asia for the U.K., with more than 7,000 students enrolling.

The number of TNE students has increased steadily by 24–40% each year since 2017.

"In the grand picture, Vietnam is an open market. The increasing trend of TNE is promising as it incentivizes Vietnam’s education sector with new opportunities for further development," said Assoc. Prof. Khanh.

The importance of international cooperation

Le Thu Hien, Education Program Manager of the British Council in Vietnam, said that transnational education is an educational program of a foreign institution implemented in Vietnam. Students studying this program have the opportunity to receive a foreign degree.

"International cooperation in education is very important because, through integration, it will help improve the quality of human resources as well as the quality of Vietnamese education," Hien said.

Dr. Dong Xuan Dam, Dean of the School of International Education at Phenikaa University and Director of the UWE Bristol@Phenikaa Campus International Bachelor Program, said that in the past, when talking about studying abroad, one had to go overseas with high tuition fees and financial proof... With TNE, the travel and financial concerns will be resolved.

TNE takes on various forms, such as full franchising programs, partial franchising programs in Vietnam, or programs with assessment and recognition partly in both Vietnam and overseas. Among these, the most popular are full franchising and transfer programs.

The full franchising program has high requirements for cooperation, such as management ability, program implementation, teaching staff, and facilities. Students enrolled in this program must comply 100% with the schedule, documents, grading criteria, and credit accumulation activities of the partner school while studying in Vietnam.

A transfer program, on the other hand, typically involves students studying a portion of a college program in Vietnam (for 2 years), followed by one year of studying the partnered program’s curriculum, with the degree being awarded by the partner institution.

According to Dr. Dam, this is most suitable for individuals who work while studying, those with adequate work experience seeking to improve knowledge and skills; hence, the training program’s approach is primarily based on the learner’s skills and experience.

While the full franchising program has high requirements for independent research and learning methods, it requires students to focus on developing research thinking and overall logic.

Exercises during the assessment process also vary. Another advantage of enrolling in the full franchising program, according to Mrs. Hien, is that when graduating, students will be awarded a degree from the partnered foreign institution.

After graduating, students can work in Vietnam or abroad because the degree is recognized internationally.

A typical example of a full franchising university model in Vietnam is the UWE Bristol@Phenikaa Campus International Bachelor Program.

This is a higher education cooperation project between the University of the West of England, Bristol, U.K. (UWE Bristol) and Phenikaa University.

Sharing the reason for cooperating with UWE Bristol, Assoc. Prof. Khanh said that Phenikaa University sought a reputable partner, and UWE Bristol fully met the criteria, ranking 24th out of 121 ranked training institutions in the U.K., according to The Guardian rankings in 2023.

The school is also on the list of the world's top 500 universities, according to the Times Higher Education rankings 2023, and has more than 10 years of experience in the Vietnam education market.

Besides, according to Dr. Dam, from the beginning, the two institutions also shared the same desire to fill the gaps when implementing the full franchising British program in Vietnam, thereby developing this model with new additions to meet a diverse range of candidates.

For example, if coming to the United Kingdom, candidates must immediately meet the minimum foreign language requirements. With the program in Vietnam, the school offers a roadmap suitable to candidates' English ability to both ensure full franchise program’s quality standards and still individualize each students’ abilities.

In particular, when studying the full franchising UWE Bristol@Phenikaa Campus Program, students have the opportunity to participate in internships right from the first and third years, instead of waiting until the final year like most programs.

"We hope this approach will help students get ready for the real labor market promptly and, at the same time, solve the problem of many graduates who have not found a job for years or are working in the wrong field," Dr. Dam said.

Students enrolled in the UWE Bristol@Phenikaa Campus program. Photo courtesy of UWE Bristol@Phenikaa Campus

UWE Bristol@Phenikaa Campus is offering 7 bachelor programs.

Experts at the seminar also shared a lot of new information about 2024 enrollment of the UWE Bristol@Phenikaa Campus Program.

The admission program follows two routes, based on the student’s English ability, which are the Global COOP route (for candidates who have met English qualifications equivalent to IELTS 6.0 or UWE Test 6.0) and the Foundation route (for candidates who have not met the English proficiency requirements equivalent to IELTS 6.0 or UWE Test 6.0).

The program is conducted over a four-year study period. After studying for three years in Vietnam, students have two options: majoring according to the curriculum of UWE Bristol in Vietnam or majoring according to the curriculum of UWE Bristol in the U.K. (UWE Bristol - Frenchay Campus).

Currently, the program provides seven majors for students: Business and Management, Business Management and Marketing, Business and Events Management, Accounting and Finance, Computer Science - Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science - Smart Devices, Information Technology.

There are three main intakes in March, June, and September.

To attract excellent candidates, the program offers many scholarship opportunities for students with prolific academic achievements and outstanding community activities.

The 6 types of admission scholarships are suitable for all applicants, with criteria based on each student's achievements, abilities, skills, scholarship application, and interview results.

Parents and students can rewatch the seminar on the social media sites of the UWE Bristol@Phenikaa Campus Program.