Viet Nam can learn a lot from the experience of Japan and other countries as it strives to improve the quality of tertiary education in the country, senior overseas Vietnamese academics said at a conference yesterday.

Vietnamese-Japanese Prof Dang Luong Mo, adviser to the HCM City University of Technology, said one of the areas Viet Nam should pay particular attention to was the setting of higher standards for establishment of universities.

Mo said more and more universities have been established in Viet Nam, but no inform standards have been set for the purpose.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly recently noted that there were 409 universities and colleges nationwide last year, including 307 that were set up in the last decade alone.

Thus far, it appeared that Viet Nam's tertiary education sector has focused on quantity and ignored quality, he said.

Mo said Japan has specific university establishment standards that cover many areas including the space for each student, facilities and the quality and quantity of teaching staff.

A university has to ensure a minimum area of 10 square metres per student and a maximum ratio of 18 students per professor, he said.

Currently, no university in Viet Nam met these two standards, he said, adding the number of professors and doctors at universities and colleges in Viet Nam was too low at the moment.

These two standards were imperative if universities and colleges in Viet Nam were to improve and match their international counterparts, he said.

Mo said HCM City should take the lead and reform the network of universities and colleges in the city. It's important that an advisory council comprising experienced professors, researchers and college administrators set up to oversee the process, he said.

Viet Nam should also create more favourable conditions for overseas Vietnamese academics, both those working and retired, to return and contribute to this task.

Vietnamese – Belgian Professor Nguyen Dang Hung, an advisor to the Vietnamese-German University's masters prog-ramme on computational mechanics, agreed that overseas Vietnamese academics should be invited to teach in Viet Nam's universities and colleges.

To improve the quality of teaching at tertiary institutions in Viet Nam, lecturers should engage in scientific research and have their work recognised by international peers, Hung said.

Viet Nam should review salary and allowances that lecturers receive so they have the time and facilities to undertake good quality scientific research, he added.

And to do this, Vietnamese tertiary institutions should co-operate with research institutes in order to create the right conditions, said Prof Lam Thanh My, former lecturer at the University of France.

Yesterday's workshop attracted 60 overseas Vietnamese academics and educational experts. It was organised by the HCM City Committee for Overseas Vietnamese and Overseas Vietnamese Science and Technology Club.

Source: VNS