Văn Hiến University’s IT and hotel management majors in HCM City on April 5 were awarded quality accreditation certificates by the Quality Management Department and Centre for Education Quality Accreditation at Đà Nẵng University. Photo courtesy of the university

HCM CITY— Universities nationwide are paying more attention to educational quality accreditation and assurance from domestic and international organizations and centres.

The universities have set up educational quality assurance committees that offer teachers' guidance in training methodology and assessment to meet criteria in quality accreditation.

According to Dr Đinh Thành Việt, head of the educational quality assurance committee at Đà Nẵng University, it is difficult for university lecturers to change, but when they recognise the importance and the benefits for students to receive quality accreditation, they are ready to do.   

Rector of HCM City University of Education Huỳnh Văn Sơn said that in 2018 the university started a project on quality assurance and governance, which has improved management and training under the sponsorship of the Agence Universitaire de La Francophonie (AUF), a society of universities offering training in French.

“The project has improved the awareness of university’s lecturers and managers about quality assurance in training programmes and higher education governance,” Sơn said.

The staff learned from experts from other universities in the country, he added.  

As part of the project, the university developed a plan to improve the professional capacity of lecturers. The university held training courses, including ones on establishing and operating a quality assurance system.

Similar projects are also being carried out at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities under the Việt Nam National University HCM City.

Dr Từ Minh Thiện, rector of Văn Hiến University in HCM City, said the university was accredited according to the Ministry of Education and Training’s new set of quality criteria in March last year.

On April 5, Văn Hiến University’s IT and hotel management majors in HCM City were awarded a quality accreditation certificate from the Quality Management Department and Centre for Education Quality Accreditation Centre at Đà Nẵng University.

These majors met the ministry’s 50 quality criteria. Each year they attract nearly 200-300 students each. Around 90 per cent of their graduates receive jobs in IT and hotel management.

Thiện said the university would continue registering accreditation for undergraduate and postgraduate majors such as English language, business administration and others, according to domestic and international standards.

Dr Lê Mỹ Phong, deputy head of the Quality Management Department under the Ministry of Education and Training, said that quality accreditation was very important for universities to affirm their training quality and consolidate their position in the country’s higher education system.  

According to the ministry, 150 universities and 342 training programmes nationwide are accredited by domestic centres.

The universities include member universities of Việt Nam National University Hà Nội and HCM City, Quy Nhơn University, Vinh University, Hồng Đức University, Văn Hiến University, and others.

Many universities such as member universities of Việt Nam National University Hà Nội and HCM City, and Tôn Đức Thắng University in HCM City, have been accredited by the ASEAN University Network and accreditation organisations in France and other countries. VNS