In this year’s university rankings in Asia, five Vietnamese universities managed to make it to the list in Asia’s top 500 with two national universities (Hanoi and HCMC) being ranked in the top 200. However, one of these universities made it to the World University Rankings of the three well-known higher education accreditation organisations.
Do Van Dung, President of HCMC University of Technology & Education attributed the cause to the criteria of the university ranking systems. He commented that the criteria are being tailored to the conditions of developed countries rather than that of the developing countries like Vietnam. Although some higher education institutions have branded them as being research-oriented, Dung believes that Vietnam is still lacking behind in accordance to international standards.
Dung pointed out that about 80 percent of Vietnamese research publications are authored by Vietnamese overseas postgraduates in conjunction with foreign professors. However, due to the unfavourable conditions of Vietnamese universities, these postgraduates are unable to publish as many publications as desired upon their return to the country. Therefore, many universities are now resorting to the ‘borrowing’ of professors from one another for research publication purposes.
Furthermore, universities are encountering difficulties in becoming research-oriented institutions due to a lack of financial funding required to hire quality educators and most of them do not have the time for research. Hence, having at least one Vietnamese university being listed among the world’s top 200 can be a serious challenge.
Source: Vietnam Net