QAA partners with British Council and Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training for seminar

QAA has partnered with the British Council Viet Nam and the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) to deliver an online sharing practice event. Delivered on 23 November, the seminar aimed to support higher education institutions in Viet Nam to learn more about UK approaches to quality in order to inform the potential for further UK-Viet Nam partnership in higher education.

The event brought together representatives from around 100 higher education institutions in Viet Nam and representatives from the UK-Viet Nam Higher Education network, along with representatives from QAA, the British Council and the Department for International Trade. In total, more than 230 delegates from across higher education in Viet Nam participated in the event.

QAA was represented by Alastair Delaney, Executive Director of Operations and Deputy Chief Executive, who delivered a keynote on the UK approach to quality assurance and enhancement, and Dr Alison Felce, Accreditation, Partnerships and Policy Manager, who participated in a panel discussion on quality enhancement, supporting institutions to develop learning outcomes and industry engagement.

The event also featured contributions from QAA Members including Bangor University and Cardiff Metropolitan University who shared their experiences of effective internal quality assurance and collaborative approaches to quality assurance through UK-Viet Nam partnership respectively.

Alastair Delaney said: ‘This event was a tremendous opportunity to build on the strong UK-Viet Nam collaboration, through sharing our experience of approaches to quality assurance and enhancement from across the UK. In partnering with the British Council and MoET on this event, we aimed to enhance confidence and understanding between UK and Vietnamese higher education, thus paving the way for future partnerships between QAA Member institutions and institutions in Viet Nam.’

Vicki Stott, QAA’s Chief Executive, said: ‘Developing strong partnerships with international agencies, governments and higher education institutions is crucial in enhancing the global reputation of UK higher education. QAA was delighted to collaborate on this joint event and looks forward to future partnership with MoET and the higher education community in Viet Nam.’

Associate Professor Hoang Minh Son, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Education and Training, said: 'In Vietnam, the number of higher education institutions and programmes can reach thousands. The question is how to improve the capacity of the quality assurance and accreditation system. In this forum, we had the opportunity to learn from the UK's experience of quality assurance policies, especially internal quality assurance systems within higher education institutions, as well as the UK Quality Code which helps to enhance higher education quality and contributes to producing a high-quality labour force and fulfilling social responsibility.

‘Sharing from experts is an important source of information to support Viet Nam in developing a national programme for higher education quality assurance and accreditation, which will be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval and implementation in Viet Nam.'