Vietnam, UK work to leverage transnational education partnerships

Hanoi (VNA) – The number of Vietnamese pursuing Vietnam-UK transnational education programmes is tripling that of those studying in the UK, heard a higher education collaboration forum between the sides held in Hanoi on October 19.

The event, themed “ThinkTNE: Leveraging UK–Viet Nam Transnational Education Partnerships,” was co-organised by the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), the UK Embassy in Hanoi, and British Council, attracting around 100 higher education leaders from both countries.

It aimed to create a venue for participants to meet up and share knowledge, and to highlight success stories of UK-Vietnam higher education partnerships. It also served to outline the enabling environment in the form of strategy, trends, and opportunities for deepening and progressing transnational education (TNE) partnerships.

The development of productive partnerships between UK–Vietnam institutions will be essential for the sides’ knowledge economy to flourish. TNE is integral to positive education and scientific relations, and academic and student exchange between and within countries. TNE projects are most successful and sustainable when structured for mutual benefit.

In his remarks, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc highly appreciated the UK’s support through the British Council in coordinating and implementing activities to enhance Vietnam’s higher education quality.

Phuc stated that education development is identified as one of Vietnam's three strategic breakthroughs. Vietnam recognises the need to actively engage in international integration and promote foreign investment to improve the quality of its education.

Transnational education can go beyond academic values to provide economic benefits in national competitiveness, sustainable communities and gender equality, said Professor Sir Steve Smith, UK Government International Education Champion.

Together with Vietnamese counterparts and partners, the UK views this as a promising platform to expand on, to enable a more inclusive, equitable and affordable option to study, at the highest of levels, he noted.

At the forum, MoET’s quality management department and the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education signed a cooperation agreement.

The forum also introduced a report titled “Toward a more Competitive Environment for Transnational Education in Vietnam” which is carried out by the UK Embassy in Hanoi, the British Council and the MoET.

According to the document, transnational education contributes to an increased supply of higher education. It also reduces brain drain and supports brain circulation by attracting talent to the location of programme delivery. Therefore, transnational education widens access to international degrees to students who can’t afford to study overseas, or are unable to access the local higher education system because of family or work commitments.

Noting that Vietnam has a favourable regulatory framework for transnational education, the report also recommends that the country adopts simple and clear guidance on how to engage in these programmes.

Box: Education is a key pillar in the UK–Vietnam strategic partnership. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) on education between the Vietnamese and UK governments was signed in October 2019, aiming to promote educational cooperation in higher education, English training, educational technology, international education and preschool education.

According to the British Council in Vietnam, the UK is ranked first among countries with the largest number of transnational education programmes and fourth among the preferred English-speaking study destinations in Vietnam. Since 2021, the British Council has enabled 29 partnerships between 23 UK universities and 38 Vietnam universities and organisations in response to MoET’s priorities.

There are currently more than 7,100 students in Vietnam studying the UK university curriculum, of which 6,000 are in person, and the remainder online./.