Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan yesterday, Oct 12, commended Viet Nam National University's applied research and training university, saying it should be replicated nationwide.

It had also achieved success in scientific research and helped HCM City and neighbouring provinces to deal with problems related to environmental and water pollution.

She noted that VNU-HCM City has many excellent professors and researchers as well as lecturers, making it one of the best universities in the region.

In addition, the university has joined the ASEAN University Network Actual Quality Assessment programme with the aim of improving training quality and enhancing its reputation.

In a meeting with Doan, Phan Thanh Binh, head of the VNU-HCM City, said delays in ground clearance and compensation had occurred for sites where new facilities for training and research are to be built by 2015.

Binh said he had petitioned the Government to quickly solve this problem.

* World bank launches report on East Asian higher education

Low-and-middle-income countries in East Asia need to make their higher education systems more responsive to labour market demands and the economy to climb up the income ladder, according to a report released today by World Bank East Asia and Pacific Regional.

Titled Putting higher education to work: Skills and Research for Growth in East Asia, the report lists skills workers need to be employable and to support to increase employers productivity.

World Bank regional vice president Jame W Adams said developing countries in the region will soon have ageing populations and face the challenge of achieving growth led by gains in productivity.

"The significance of higher education will increase as the countries work to escape the middle income trap," he said, adding that higher education improves skills, research ability and technology which can drive economic growth.

However, World Bank lead economist and report author Emanuel di Gropello, said higher education institutions in East Asia's developing economies could improve further to arm graudates with skills that firms required including communication and foreign language skills.

The report suggests three priorities that Governments and public policy makers can follow to improve higher education including efficient financing, better management of public institutions and stewardship of the system.

Partnerships between universities and research institutions, business and lower education institutions was also seen as necessary to improve education.

Viet Nam has continued to empower higher education institutions to make decisions relating to finance, staff and training programmes, she said.

Higher salaries and employee benefits were also listed as ways to attract high-qualified staff for institutions.

* VN looks to boost Swiss education ties

Viet Nam and Switzerland should further co-operation on higher education to create more opportunities for students to study overseas, a conference in Ha Noi heard yesterday, Oct 12.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Tran Quang Quy said improving higher education standards was a key national goal. However, how best to boost standards to meet socio-economic development goals remained a challenge, she said.

"Deeper co-operation between top-ranking universities and colleges in Switzerland and Viet Nam, especially in the fields of banking, finance, insurance, tourism and hotels, would benefit Viet Nam's development," he said.

At the moment, 460 students are participating in five joint programmes between Swiss and Vietnamese universities.

Swiss Ambassador to Viet Nam Andrej Motyl said Vietnamese students were both diligent and thirsty for knowledge.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Minh, deputy director of the ministry's General Department for Viet Nam Education Development, said many Vietnamese students wanted to study in Switzerland but found tuition fees and accommodation expensive.

She said more Vietnamese students would study in Switzerland if tuition fees were reduced and accommodation grants made available.

Since 2010, 2,820 graduates have won places to study in Europe, North America and Asia through programmes funded by the Government.

There are at the moment 364 joint programmes between Viet Nam and 47 countries that have allowed 25,140 students to study abroad.

At the conference, partnership agreements were signed between Swiss and Vietnamese universities.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News