As an international public university, University of Science and Technology of Hanoi – USTH (also called Vietnam France University) always makes best effort to improve the training programs to give the best education environment for the students. For this reason, USTH actively invited an international quality accreditation organization to give the reliable and impartial assessments on the university’s training programs.
The practice of accrediting training program quality
Currently, accrediting quality of training program is a hot issue, attracting lots of the public concerns. This is an occasion for the universities to review themselves to improve the training program and ensure the benefits of the students.
In foreign countries, students and their parents often base on the results of training program quality accreditation of the universities to select a right one. Accrediting quality of training programs help students have the correct information about the university such as the services and the studying results of the former students at the university.
The students who study at the accredited universities will have advantages. For example, the academic credit will be recognized among the universities in the verified system. Additionally, when registering for higher education at the universities, the students have higher chances to be accepted than those from non-accredited universities.
Aiming of becoming an excellent public university with international standards, USTH had had thorough and early preparation to evaluate its training programs. In 2010, the university invited The High Council Evaluation of Research and Higher Education in France (HCERES) to evaluate its Master training programs. Then, in 2016, Bachelor training programs of USTH were accredited by HCERES.
HCERES is the official member of European Association For Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and The Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) under the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). HCERES is known as a prestigious education quality accreditation organization in not only France but also in Europe.
In 2010, quality of master training programs at USTH was recognized by HCERES. As soon as the verification was invalid, HCERES was invited to examine the master training programs again. At this time, the quality of the programs was approved in June 2016. In April 2017, the bachelor training programs of USTH were recognized by HCERES.
“Inviting HCERES to evaluate training programs of USTH is a part of the process to standardize the training programs of the university. USTH expected that the university will receive the impartial evaluation from a prestigious and experienced organization to realize our weak and strong points in training programs. Doing so, we can perfect our training quality. Moreover, training quality verification will enhance the reputation of the university, as well as increase the competition of USTH students when penetrating to the labor market,” Assoc. Prof. Ngo Duc Thanh, Vice Rector of USTH said.
Great benefits for students
There are many strong points of USTH’s training programs, as listed in HCERES’s evaluation. USTH applies the most updated teaching methods and assures the international studying environment. Moreover, USTH is the leading university in Vietnam and even in Asia to apply Bologna process in teaching. Accordingly, the duration of bachelor, master, and Ph.D. training programs were three, two and three years, respectively.
Besides, all the training programs of USTH is in English, therefore, the students have opportunities to access the world latest science and technology. USTH always combine practices with theory via creating the most favorable condition for students to studying and researching in modern laboratories. Moreover, before graduating, bachelor and master students have to have from three to six-month internship in the best laboratories of Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), or in other countries such as France.
Being recognized by HCERES has enormous meaning with the development progress of the USTH, its students, and even the global academic community. The most practical thing is that the value of the USTH’s diplomas is considered to be equal to the value of diplomas of many universities in Europe. When applying to European university for higher education, or seeking for jobs, the USTH students all have advantages because many European universities recognize the quality of USTH’s training programs and a number of companies prioritize students from universities which meet international standards.
From the part of USTH, thanks to being internationally accredited, USTH receives many opportunities in educational cooperation, attracts international students and internationalizes the training programs.
By standardizing the training programs, USTH is opening the door for the learners to integrate into the world, and strengthening its position in the world. Last but not least, USTH students are not only good at the specific fields, English skills but also good at soft skills to be confident to walk into the domestic and international labor market.
