Hanoi hosts ASEAN policy dialogue on student mobility

Delegates at the 3rd SHARE Policy Dialogue on student mobility. (Source: nhandan.com.vn)

Hanoi (VNA) – The third policy dialogue in the framework of the EU project on Support to Higher Education in the ASEAN Region (SHARE) opened in Hanoi on June 8, gathering over 150 senior educational leaders, managers, scholars and students from the host country, ASEAN and the EU.

Delegates at the event discussed necessary tools to enhance student mobility, especially through credit transfer systems and scholarships, towards the goal of creating a dynamic tertiary educational sector and enhancing the competitiveness of ASEAN member countries and the bloc as a whole.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga highlighted the Vietnamese government’s policy of encouraging foreign investors and universities to open their campuses in Vietnam. There are already a number of international universities operating in the country, such as the Vietnam-Germany University (VGU), the Vietnam-Japan University (VJU), and the Vietnam-France University.

Besides this, the country has actively developed a national qualification framework which is based on the ASEAN qualification framework, in order to further bolster student mobility as well as labour movement in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

Head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam Ambassador Bruno Angelet shared that the EU is supporting 18 research projects in Vietnam, which are being carried out by leading universities in Vietnam and the EU. These projects are in such areas as substantial agriculture, food safety and energy management.

SHARE is an EU funded project worth 10 million EUR with an overarching objective of strengthening regional cooperation, and enhancing the quality, competitiveness and internationalisation of ASEAN higher education institutions and students, contributing to an ASEAN Community beyond 2015.

Starting from 2016, the project will provide about 500 scholarships for students from the ASEAN region, mainly through student exchanges and credit recognisation in the region.

It also aims to enhance cooperation between the EU and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and to create lasting benefits from the harmonisation of higher education across ASEAN.-VNA