Abstract
Internationalisation policies evolved when Vietnam transformed from central planning to a market oriented economy in the mid-1980s. While internationalisation, referred as “integration” in Vietnamese policy discourse, has become one of the priorities in Vietnamese higher education development and reform, internationalisation activities are fragmented and the system has not been able to reap the most benefits from the process. This chapter provides an in-depth analysis of government policies on internationalisation and the impacts of such policies at the national, system and institutional levels. Specifically, the chapter summarises the philosophical and practical evolution of Vietnamese internationalisation policies over the past two decades. It suggests that on the one hand, the Vietnamese government has moved from a one-sided reactive integration policy in the face of globalisation to a more proactive approach by setting ambitious goals and strategies to bring its higher education to a level comparable to the world. On the other hand, when practical impacts are considered, the philosophical transformation in policy does not seem to have been realised consistently and effectively, especially when delineation is made between the system and the institution levels. Drawing on the new institutionalist perspective, the chapter argues that, although internationalisation has contributed to diversifying the system in terms of the forms of institutions, programs, activities, and curricula, there is a prevalent isomorphic trend at the institution level. Institutions behave in a mimicking fashion and seek legitimacy through internationalisation without necessarily improving performance or quality. The chapter concludes that given a continuing failure to create the necessary conditions such as governance, financing mechanisms, and better higher education market information, internationalisation of Vietnamese higher education will continue to be import intensive and Vietnamese higher education institutions will remain unequal partners to their international peers.
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Notes
- 1.
Resolution No. 14/2005/NQ-CP by the Government dated November 2, 2005
- 2.
Decision No. 711/QĐ-TTg by the Prime Minister, dated June 13, 2012
- 3.
Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW by the 8th plenum of the CPV’s 11th Central Committee dated November 4, 2013
- 4.
Decision No. 2448/QĐ-TTg by the Prime Minister dated December 16, 2013
- 5.
Decree 06/2000/NĐ-CP by the government dated March 6, 2000 on foreign investment and cooperation in health care, education and training, and scientific research.
- 6.
Decree 18/2001/NĐ-CP by the government dated May 4, 2001 on establishment and operation of foreign educational and cultural institutions in Vietnam.
- 7.
Decree 73/2012/NĐ-CP by the government dated September 26, 2012 on foreign investment and cooperation in education, commonly known as Decree 73. This decree replaces the two previous decrees.
- 8.
Decision No. 711/QĐ-TTg by the Prime Minister, dated June 13, 2012
- 9.
Sandwich programs are programs offered by local universities but involve a component of study abroad
- 10.
Decision No. 711/QĐ-TTg by the Prime Minister, dated June 13, 2012
- 11.
Decree 73/2012/NĐ-CP by the government dated September 26, 2012
- 12.
VIED 2015, accessible at http://www.vied.vn/index.php?lang=vn#. Note that the reported figure by VIED dated June 10, 2015 is 273 programs. However, the authors’ compilation of VIED’s data shows more programs (282) as VIED counted programs according to the permissions issued while one permission can include more than one program.
- 13.
Rough estimation by authors based on tuition information available online by 186 programs.
- 14.
Announcement No. 292/TB-VPCP dated August 27, 2015 regarding the conclusions by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the Government’s regular meeting on excellence universities.
- 15.
This diagnosis was presented to the government at its regular meeting on the excellence universities, serving as one of the bases for the abortion of the project. This information was provided by Dr. Vu Thanh Tu Anh, Research Director at the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
- 16.
With supports from the U.S. Department of States and Harvard, FETP has gone through an institutional transformation, serving as a core for the development of the Fulbright University Vietnam (FUV). It is now the Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management (FSPPM) within FUV.
- 17.
Approximately 1.9 million U.S. dollars per year
- 18.
See more at http://www.fetp.edu.vn/en/
- 19.
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Hoang, L., Tran, L.T., Pham, HH. (2018). Vietnamese Government Policies and Practices in Internationalisation of Higher Education. In: Tran, L., Marginson, S. (eds) Internationalisation in Vietnamese Higher Education . Higher Education Dynamics, vol 51. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78492-2_2
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