U.S. Mission Organizes Education Conference

Ambassador Michael W. Michalak opening the Education Conference held in Ho Chi Minh City January 15-16, 2009

More than 400 educators and officials attended Higher Education in Vietnam: American-Vietnamese Partnerships, the Education Conference organized by the U.S. Mission in Vietnam, Vietnam National University, HCMC, and the Ministry of Education and Training. The event, held in Ho Chi Minh City on January 15-16, 2009, drew more than 400 educators and officials, including 200+ Americans representing 120 universities, colleges and companies, and about 200 Vietnamese representing 104 educational institutions and government offices.

Participants engaged in intense discussions about their experiences establishing and operating joint educational programs in Vietnam, including 2+2 programs and the Ministry’s Advanced Programs. Speakers noted best practices, what worked and what didn’t work, obstacles they encountered and the solutions they found. Other sessions focused on the efforts by American companies in Vietnam to work with Vietnamese schools to help them produce graduates with the skills needed in Vietnam’s modernizing economy. Many participants noted the need for better English skills among Vietnam’s students and workforce and identified ways to improve English instruction. The Conference enabled all participants to ask questions of the U.S. and Vietnamese governments and receive direct answers, and enabled U.S. officials to hear directly from American schools about the challenges they face and what the Mission can do to help them. Another benefit from the Conference was the opportunity it afforded the U.S.-Vietnam Education Task Force to present and receive feedback on its preliminary recommendations before preparing its Final Report, which will be presented to the two countries’ leaders in February, 2009.