Last summer, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that it was providing $70 million in loans for the Viet Nam Skills Enhancement Project, which will offer training programs in priority industries in cooperation with the private sector. As in other countries, vocational education and training is “low prestige” and therefore not attractive to most high … Continue reading Vocational Education & Training in Vietnam: Opportunities & Untapped Potential
Commentary
Wikileaks & Vietnam
Many people with a personal and professional interest in Vietnam are patiently waiting to see if any nuggets of gold can be mined from the ore that is the 2325 US Embassy-Hanoi documents that will be trickling out on the Wikileaks Cable Gate website. Areas of interest include all of the “usual suspects” such as war legacy issues (e.g., unexploded ordnance … Continue reading Wikileaks & Vietnam
Old (But Interesting) News
Ms. Virginia E. Palmer, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Hanoi, Welcomes California Miramar University's 6th MBA Cohort (Source: California Miramar University) This is the kind of headline that immediately conjures up images of MasterCard's Priceless advertising campaign. Having two U.S. Embassy representatives, including a deputy chief of mission, and the country director of … Continue reading Old (But Interesting) News
The Times They Are a-Changin’: Agency-Based Recruitment
Agency-based recruitment has belatedly been embraced by U.S. colleges and universities even as it is becoming passé, one example among many that the US has much to learn from the rest of the world. It is only one of a growing number of options in the international student recruitment "bag of tricks" and already has limited utility in increasingly competitive markets such as Vietnam. Those schools … Continue reading The Times They Are a-Changin’: Agency-Based Recruitment
U.S. Visa Policy: Guilty Until Proven Innocent
“Applicants must demonstrate that they properly meet student visa requirements.” In other words, the onus is on the applicant to make her/his case and do it quickly. The application fee of $140 and the SEVIS fee of $200 ensure a visa interview that usually lasts in the five-minute range. As most of you probably know, the “big three” … Continue reading U.S. Visa Policy: Guilty Until Proven Innocent
VEF: From Vietnam With Money ($)
In April 1997, during a three-day visit to Vietnam, then Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin announced that the Vietnamese government had agreed to repay the $146 million wartime debt of the former South Vietnam. Four years earlier, Vietnam agreed in principle to assume the debt from its former enemy as part of a larger … Continue reading VEF: From Vietnam With Money ($)
About Comments
Since An International Educator in Vietnam just celebrated its first anniversary, a word about comments is in order. I appreciate (and "approve") most of the comments I receive because they contain useful information, valuable insights or a combination thereof. There are some others that clearly fall into the "smart ass" or "smart aleck" category, defined by Merriam-Webster as an obnoxiously … Continue reading About Comments
“Students warned of rogue education providers”
This excellent article by Le Quynh Anh, which included an interview with me, appeared in the 18 November issue of the English language daily Viet Nam News. Below is the unabridged version of that interview. As the international educator, who has five years of experiences working in Vietnam, what are the reasons do you think behind … Continue reading “Students warned of rogue education providers”
Of Student Visas & Community Colleges
Community colleges (CCs) continue to be the most popular entry point to U.S. higher education for Vietnamese students. Vietnam ranks 2nd behind South Korea in international student enrollment at CCs and 80% of the student visas issued by the U.S. Consulate General are for CC-bound students, according to an official source. That's the good news. The bad news is … Continue reading Of Student Visas & Community Colleges
“Fighting corruption in education sector an uphill battle”
According to Transparency International, corruption in education is particularly damaging because it endangers a country's social, economic and political future: Corruption in education is more detrimental than corruption in other sectors because of its long-term effects. Corruption threatens equal access, quantity and quality of education. Its consequences are particularly harsh for the poor who, … Continue reading “Fighting corruption in education sector an uphill battle”
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