External Quality Assurance in Vietnamese Higher Education

Overview & Synopsis

This chapter presents the current status of external quality assurance in education, focusing on the higher education accreditation system in Vietnam. First, this paper reviews the legal framework for higher education accreditation, clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the Ministry of Education and Training, other ministries, and organizations in the management of higher education quality accreditation in Vietnam. The second part focuses on the establishment, development, type, and number of education accrediting organizations in Vietnam. Moreover, this section also presents the criteria and procedure to recognize and license overseas external quality assurance agencies for their legal operation and providing quality assurance services in Vietnam. The third section describes the current processes for the accreditation of higher education institutions in Vietnam. The next section analyzes the standards and processes for program accreditation. Furthermore, the chapter presents the status of implementation and results of accreditation activities in higher education in Vietnam. The final section presents the future directions for external quality assurance in the Vietnamese higher education system. [For the complete volume, "20 Years of Quality Assurance in Vietnamese Higher Education: Retrospective Analysis and Trends for the Future. Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects. Volume 76," see ED676110.]