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Enhancing the internationalisation of higher education in Vietnam
April 2024 marked the commencement of a remarkable collaboration between Deakin University, Australia’s Department of Education and Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training. The research project, ‘Internationalisation of higher education in Vietnam’, aimed at enhancing the internationalisation of higher education for 44 Vietnamese universities, kicked off with a series of workshops delivered by the REDI and Deakin International team in Vietnam and virtually.
Vietnam’s higher education sector has experienced significant growth over the past two decades, prompting a shift towards internationalisation as a key strategy to enhance quality and contribute to national development. Despite progress, the lack of a strategic approach has limited the benefits to a few leading institutions, prompting a broader initiative to involve all universities in the internationalisation agenda.
Deakin’s leadership in international education means it is well positioned to promote an appreciation of the benefits of internationalisation and strategies, including global trends and digitisation. For Australia, Vietnam presents opportunities for transnational education (TNE), online delivery, inbound and outbound student mobilities and research collaboration. Vietnam is also an important diversification market for the growth of trade in education services.
The research project is led by REDI’s Ly Tran with colleagues John Molony, Diep Nguyen, Huyen Bui, Thu Nguyen Vo, John Bolton, Bardo Fraunholz and Angela Puskic, and funded by the Australian Government Department of Education under the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy.
The project began with workshops in which Vietnamese and Australian speakers shared experiences and built mutual capability in the development of transnational education partnerships and internationalisation strategies at the institutional level. Participants gained insights into the regulatory environment supporting Australian transnational education delivery in Vietnam. Sustainable mechanisms were developed to facilitate ongoing knowledge exchange between the Australian and Vietnamese higher education sectors.
The next steps include a survey to evaluate the effectiveness of the training workshops and capture the factors that enable or inhibit the internationalisation of higher education in Vietnam and focus groups to gather data on emerging issues, debates and new developments in the internationalisation of higher education in Vietnam.
It is expected that the project will lead to the following long-term outcomes:
- increased understanding of the regulatory environment to support Australian transnational education delivery in Vietnam
- increased institutional partnerships between Australian and Vietnamese universities
- development of ongoing collaborative programs (between Australian and Vietnamese universities) and TNE products, including the delivery of (accredited/non accredited) joint online/hybrid courses including microcredentials and industry aligned joint research projects
- development of a Higher Education Internationalisation Capability Framework and a Good Practice Guide for enhancing internationalisation of higher education.
Through ongoing initiatives and recommendations, this project seeks to ensure sustainable internationalisation efforts and equitable access to opportunities for all stakeholders in Vietnam’s education landscape.
Workshop participants
