Việt kiều conference urges HCM City to modernise education

Việt kiều (overseas Vietnamese) have urged HCM City to carry out a radical overhaul of teaching methods to promote higher education.– Photo giaoduc.net.vn

HCM CITY – Việt kiều (overseas Vietnamese) have urged HCM City to carry out a radical overhaul of teaching methods to promote higher education.

Speaking at a conference titled “Overseas Vietnamese’s suggestions for promoting higher education in HCM City” in the city on Thursday, they also discussed the standardisation of training activities based on international standards, proposed solutions for suitable employment of university graduates and the use of industry 4.0 technologies in higher education.

Prof Đặng Lương Mô from Japan said universities and junior colleges in the city should focus their investment on facilities and equipment.

The city needed quality teaching staff while students should be self-motivated and creative, he added said.

Võ Thanh Sơn from Belgium recommended that universities, colleges and students should deepen their professional knowledge to improve the city’s human resource availability.

Dr Nguyễn Thiện Tống said the quality of the city’s training programmes was lower than at Australian universities.

The technological training provided by HCM City universities and colleges was “outdated”, he said.

City authorities must renovate and offer training programmes that cover both science – technology and economics, he said.

According to figures released by the Statistics Bureau, 75 per cent of graduates from HCM City universities and colleges are either unemployed or in unskilled jobs. In Việt Nam, more than 400,000 university and colleges graduate every year become jobless, with 90 per cent not possessing soft skills.

Danny Võ Thành Đăng from Singapore encouraged youngsters, especially students at city universities, to equip themselves with necessary skills to get used to working conditions after graduation.

According to the city Department of Education and Training, a comprehensive overhaul of the education sector and improving the quality of human resources require universities and colleges to innovate in their teaching methods, modernise their curriculums and focus on personality, morality, ideals, and awareness of starting a career.

Authorities should make efforts to create a “society of learning”, encourage and create favourable conditions for people to devote their lives to academics, thus creating quality human resources to meet the demand for socio-economic development and international integration, said Lê Hoài Nam, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Education and Training..

The conference was organised by the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese. — VNS.