As part of the workplan ‘Enhancing quality assurance and accreditation for higher education in Viet Nam for international integration’ that the British Council has been delivering in partnership with the Viet Nam Education Quality Management Agency (VQA), Ministry of Education and Training, a pilot Gap analysis was conducted at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, and Industrial University Ho Chi Minh City in late October 2024.
This pilot activity aims to support the universities in enhancing and showcasing their quality assurance towards UK/ESG standards. It will assess the universities’ readiness to proceed to the full institutional review which then may lead to official accreditation by the UK's Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). The Gap analysis was carried out by UK QAA Quality Specialists, and Vietnamese Reviewers and Observers.
Speaking at the meeting with the two universities in preparation for the exercise, Assoc Prof Pham Quoc Khanh, Deputy Director General, VQA emphasised that ‘The collaboration between VQA and the British Council in this workplan has an important objective that we need to achieve - that is the development of a practical internal quality assurance guideline that is suitable for Viet Nam and that ensures that all quality standards have a balance of moving towards improvement but still keeping the diversity and uniqueness of the programmes and universities. The pilot exercise is an important and careful step, the result of which can be considered to be used for the higher education system in Viet Nam.’
Assoc Prof Huynh Quyet Thang, President, Hanoi University of Science and Technology said ‘Hanoi University of Science and Technology has been carrying out big projects, finalising our development strategy during 2017-2025, and starting for a new strategy for 2025-2025 with a vision for 2025. Therefore, this project has strongly helped enhance our internal quality assurance, building a culture of quality towards international standards, which contributes to our positioning in the international stand. We expect that the Gap analysis will help identify the road map to enhance quality that suits the current context and future development plan as well as moves towards QAA accreditation.’
Dr Phan Hong Hai, President, Industrial University HCMC said ‘This workplan has helped us better understand the UK approach to accreditation as well as the UK/ESG standards in quality assurance. The Gap analysis helps us review our internal quality assurance, identifying the gaps and areas for improvement, and giving us valuable experience to conduct a pilot accreditation following UK/EGS standards. Recommendations from multi-dimensional perspectives of the QAA Reviewer will surely help our university improve in many areas and be ready for the official accreditation.'
The workplan is part of the British Council’s Going Global Partnerships, which is a commitment to support VQA, MOET in enhancing quality assurance and accreditation in Viet Nam higher education within the MOC signed between the British Council and MOET in October 2021.
The workplan is designed to support the development of a quality higher education system in Vietnam by drawing on expertise from UK higher education and enhancing the international reputation of the UK and Vietnam higher education system through developing partnerships, connections and trust.
