“International” universities do not always provide international standards or a quality education. The absence of strict regulations leaves Vietnam vulnerable to education scams.

Hong Bang International University

These names and changes may not mean anything substantive, however, and education experts warn that students, who expect a high quality education, will be disappointed.

What’s in a name?

When asked about the name change of Hong Bang University, an official of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Education and Training replied the university’s operation plan said that it provides training programs with cooperation from international education organizations and its training quality meets international standards. Therefore, the university has been granted the right to change its name to “international.”

Professor Pham Phu, a senior educator, commented to a Nguoi Lao Dong reporter that it was comical to use these reasons, when, “In fact, there is no model of international universities, and there is no standard for these or other universities to be called ‘international.’”

Meanwhile, Dr Vu Thi Phuong Anh, Director of Education Quality Assessment under the HCM City National University, observed that “international” is just a brand name and any institution can use the word if they want.

Anh added that many universities providing high training quality are still famous without adding “international” to their names.

Regulation vital to education

An official from the International University under the HCM City National University, explained that there are no legal standards for international universities, but his university sets standards to follow. For example, at least 40 percent of lecturers are foreign lecturers. Students must pass English exams to be enrolled and must be able to attend classes taught in English.

However, many students of Hong Bang International University cannot understand why the university is called an international university when poor material facilities hamper students’ learning. Moreover, the lack of facilities forces universities to use many small campuses across HCM City, so students have to travel a lot to get to their classes.

Dr. Phuong Anh noted that students in developing countries are always attracted to the name “international,”, since they think that it means high quality. Therefore, Anh has called on government agencies to tighten controls on institutions that deliberately use such terms to lure students without provide quality services.

Anh has warned that if no drastic measure is taken, Vietnam will see more and more schools that have “international” in their names, but do not have high quality training services.

VietNamNet/NLD