This week, the World Bank approved $177 million to fund Vietnam’s primary and higher education systems. A downturn in the economy has increased the demand for education and professional training. The World Bank’s Country Director for Vietnam sees the “economic crisis as a golden opportunity for Vietnam to reform its education sector.” The full article from the World Bank can be found here.
Education is a hot topic of discussion within the Vietnam centric business community. In a recent conference put on by the Vietnamese Strategic Venture Network, professionals familiar with business in Vietnam stated that up to 90% of college graduates do not have the skills necessary to work in an American company. This figure poses an obvious challenge for Vietnamese businesses hoping to converge with the global economy.
While money will certainly help, we must question whether it will be enough to push Vietnam to a level sufficient to be globally competitive. For Vietnamese students to be on par with the global market, they will need training and mentorship from experienced professionals and global leaders in their respective fields. The challenge for Vietnam is to find and attract experienced talents to guide the eager young minds.
To be globally competitive, Vietnam has to train their students with both technical and soft/business skills. From an outsider point of view, the country is a good place to outsource their technical works; the country needs to show that its citizens can innovate, manage, and lead rather than just a resource of cheaper labor.
i don’t think it’s so much the technical skill that is absent in VN’s education system but the methodology of teaching and approach to learning that matter. If students are taught in robotic, uncreative ways then the end product is uncreative and robotic graduates who are ill-prepared for the global world of work. Schools have to empower their teachers to be creative, to deliver exciting lessons that capture the interest of every child; schools have to foster independence and individuality in their children and cultivate openness, team working and communication skills that allow their students to integrate better in the global community.