Viet Nam Higher Education Institutions Aiming to Enhance Quality Systems to the Next Level with AUN at the Internal Quality Assurance System Design and Development Workshop

Throughout 24 to 26 April, 2023, Viet Nam National University, Ho Chi Minh City (VNUHCM) was the gracious host of the Internal Quality Assurance System Design and Development Workshop jointly organized by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and the ASEAN University Network (AUN) Secretariat. 

Solidifying the foundation in IQA systems for Viet Nam’s higher education institutions will be the first step towards further developing quality education that will produce greater top level graduates that will be capable of meeting the demands of the modern workforce that is ever-evolving. The IQA System Design and Development Workshop was set up as a 3-day programme, where participants were guided through the process of self-reviewing their institute’s IQA process. Up to 77 Participants from 44 different Viet Nam higher education institutions, Ministry of Education and Training Viet Nam (MOET), Accreditation Centers attended the workshop to engage and collaborate with the following 7 IQA Experts in the ASEAN region and Spain. 

1. Dra. Glòria González Anadón, President of AQU Special commission for the Certification of IQAs Implementation, University Autonoma of Barcelona
2. Mr. Johnson Ong Chee Bin, AUN-QA Technical Expert
3. Dr. Kamolwan Lueprasert, Special Advisor to AUN Executive Director
4. Dr. Miquel Vidal, Dean of the Chemistry Faculty, University of Barcelona
5. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Kay Chuan, AUN-QA Technical Expert
6. Dr. Robyn Phillips, Director of XBorder Projects
7. Dr. Satria Bijaksana, Deputy Chairperson of AUN-QA Council 

Starting on the first day, it began with a closed session with only the AUN Secretariat and  participants from AUN Members and AUN-QA Associate Member Universities. Participants were divided into 8 groups in order to have varying perspectives on a key question that aims to ask; what causes are obstacles that impact the effectiveness of Viet Nam’s Higher Education sector? After a brainstorming session to come up with main causes, the next step was to answer: “Why?” for each cause. 

For the answers that resulted, participants were urged to dig deeper by continuously asking the same question. Throughout the process of asking this question for the many causes, all of the groups came forward with repeating answers across causes. For the final task of the first day, participants took the initiative to map out a systems diagram in order to visualize all the ideas created through the brainstorming process.

Continuing on to the second day, IQA Experts joined into the fray starting with trigger presentations that provided insightful analysis and best practices from the experts’ institutions. Regarding the trigger presentations, stay tuned! The AUN Secretariat team will have an article that will dive deeper into this wealth of knowledge. 

Participants are tasked this time with formulating potential solutions or plans of action to tackle the issues identified from the systems diagrams. To make this endeavor a more engaging experience, IQA Experts were also present to engage and collaborate with the participants.

 

After two days of intense brainstorming, representatives from each of the 5 groups were ready to present their solutions to all the obstacles of the Vietnamese Higher Education system and explain the possible outcomes. 

 

All 5 groups shared their analysis and all participants voted for their favorite ideas!

 

IQA Experts sharing their final thoughts on the workshop to all participants.

 

All in all, the 3-day workshop has generated an abundance of valuable information from all participants. The AUN Secretariat is currently compiling the results of the workshop to make the information easily digestible and to ensure each and every single idea generated will be in the pool of the final analysis. As mentioned earlier, stay tuned for an upcoming article that will be examining the content that was shared in the Trigger Presentations provided by the 7 IQA Experts!