‘It is very important that colleges take responsibility for their own quality’ said by Angela Whiteside, UK expert at the seminar sharing findings from the inspection.
To support the Vietnamese government’s initiative in internationalising vocational education and training through increased application of quality standards from the UK and international accreditation and inspection of vocational providers and in response to the request from Department of Vocational Education and Training (DVET), the British Council Vietnam invited a UK expert/consultant to Vietnam to conduct a light touch inspection based on Ofsted guidelines, to test the quality of teaching and learning in the two selected colleges in Vietnam and assess the robustness of the quality assurance mechanisms in place.
The two colleges selected were Ba Ria Vung Tau college of Technology and Hanoi college of Electronics and Mechanics and they gained great benefits from the inspection. Vice Minister Le Quan, MOLISA said 'The inspection helps the colleges to benchmark their quality to UK standards and to improve their assessment process and quality standards. In particular, recommendations from the UK expert steer the colleges to develop strategies to overcome identified limitations and improve the quality of training, employers’ engagement and employability opportunities for students after graduation. Vietnam is in the process of building models of employer led training to enable colleges to reach world-class standards, so the results of the inspection based on UK quality standards are extremely valuable'.
The UK expert worked four days in each college with fully intensive schedule of meetings with the principal, heads of departments, faculty leaders and visiting work places to observe and interviews students who are currently studying, taking internships or former graduates. Interview with employers and observing teaching also play important parts in the inspection, through which to find out the effectiveness and impact of the enrolment process, training programmes, employers engagement, and learners journey from admission to learning and graduation
Both colleges are impressive ones, according to the findings from the UK inspector, they have developed strong and effective relationships with employers and extensive international links which they use well to upskill the professionalism of their staff, students are highly motivated, disciplined and achieving good standards, and the colleges at all times are maintaining high standards.
Danny Whitehead, Acting Director of British Council stated 'we hope through receiving the encouraging results and recommendation from Angela the colleges gain more confidence to develop their strengths and continue to implement changes in order to move towards comprehensively achieving international standards as well UK standards in quality of vocational education. The British Council in Vietnam will continue to enhance the depth and breath of the partnership with Vietnam through innovative approaches and sustainable solutions that benefits both countries'.