In November 2010 a group of 13 senior U.S. higher education officials, including vice presidents, deans and directors from 10 universities and colleges, will travel to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) to explore opportunities, including intensive English and university pathway programs, student recruitment, custom-designed short programs, professional Master’s degree programs, certificate programs, research that cuts across institutional and national boundaries, study abroad programs for U.S. students, faculty and scholar exchange, joint and dual degree opportunities with Vietnamese institutions, and distance education programs, among others.
The representatives are members of Global Associates, a knowledge network of the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), dedicated to identifying global higher education and training needs, fostering collaboration, sharing best practices, and keeping its members abreast of developments in international education. This is the latest in a series of exploratory trips taken by Global Associates members, including one to Brazil and another to Turkey.
”As representatives of selective American universities, we are very much looking forward to finding ways in which we can collaborate with our Vietnamese colleagues. We selected Vietnam as a country of focus for 2010 because we see the potential for creating new educational opportunities for citizens in both countries,” said Dr. Joseph Ugras, Global Associates chairman and Dean of the College of Professional and Continuing Studies at La Salle University in Philadelphia, PA.
Other participating institutions are:
- California State University, Long Beach (CA)
- California State University, Northridge (CA)
- Columbia University (NY)
- Kansas State University (KS)
- University of Massachusetts-Boston (MA)
- The University of Mississippi (MS)
- San Diego State University (CA)
- Syracuse University (NY)
- University of Texas at Austin (TX)
The group, representing public and private universities from seven states, will spend the week of 7 November visiting universities in Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). The trip will include meetings with Vietnamese and U.S. government officials and an informal exchange of ideas and information with students, as well as city tours in Hanoi and HCMC. Delegation members will also meet with Michael Michalak, U.S. Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In addition, Global Associates will host two receptions in Hanoi and HCMC, respectively, for Vietnamese and U.S. colleagues involved or with an interest in U.S.-Vietnam educational exchange.
“This is an extraordinary opportunity for U.S. higher education colleagues with a strong interest in Vietnam to discover firsthand what the Vietnam of 2010 looks like and what the opportunities are in higher education and educational exchange,” said Mark A. Ashwill, managing director of Capstone Vietnam, the trip organizer. “This is also a great chance for Vietnamese colleagues to discuss possibilities for cooperation with U.S. counterparts who represent some of the finest universities in America.”
Capstone Vietnam is a Hanoi-based human resource development company that specializes in client, or institutional services, for U.S. and Vietnamese higher education institutions, organizations and companies. Capstone Vietnam was founded by Dr. Ashwill, former country director of the Institute of International Education in Vietnam.
(Source: Capstone Vietnam)
“Fighting corruption in education sector an uphill battle”
25/10/2010According to Transparency International, corruption in education is particularly damaging because it endangers a country’s social, economic and political future:
As Transparency International points out, corruption in education can take many forms: bribes paid by parents to teachers to ensure good grades and examination results; bribes paid by teachers to public officials to get preferred posting and promotion; embezzlement of funds allocated to purchase teaching materials or to build schools. Corruption in the education sector can also mean the bypassing of criteria in the approval of school establishment and accreditation, cronyism and nepotism in procurement and teacher appointment, resulting in “ghost teachers” or the selling of information on exams.
Corruption in education and other sectors is one of the most popular topics in the Vietnamese and English language media here. Most the examples cited above are real-life examples in Vietnam at all levels of the education system. Here are some survey results from a recent article entitled Fighting corruption in education sector an uphill battle:
Another example, not limited to education and common knowledge to those who live and work in Vietnam, was documented in an article entitled University degrees cannot help graduates get good jobs. A recent graduate with an excellent academic record retured to her home village and applied to teach in a school there. While she waited for a reply, one of her friends, who graduated from the Quy Nhon University of Education with average grades, got a job as a high school teacher in the same province. The deciding factor was the “under the table” money she paid to secure the position.
There are also students-for-hire services that allow university students to hire someone to cover their classes for between VND20,000-50,000 (US$1.02-2.56) per period.
Marie Ottosson, Deputy Head of Mission & Head of Development Cooperation Section of the Swedish Embassy, noted that education and training are the largest items in Vietnan’s national budget (15 to 20%), but weak accounting and monitoring systems provided opportunities for corruption.
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Tags: civil society, corruption
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