Key Pedagogical Universities and Restructuring Teacher Education Institutions: A Case Study of Vietnam

Abstract

The paper presents an overview of the teacher education institutions in Vietnam and examines the capacity of some key pedagogical universities. Based on the actual survey, analyzing the opinion of educational experts, the authors proposes some solutions for restructuring the teacher education institutions based on analyzing the limitations and shortcomings in the distribution of these institutions. The paper also points out the capacity of some key pedagogical universities, local pedagogical colleges and their role in training teachers for the whole country. The functions of key pedagogical universities and their “satellite” pedagogical colleges were determined in the teacher education system. As a result, the paper shows the urgency of restructuring the network of pedagogical universities and colleges that contributing to training high-quality human resources for the educational sector. The restructuring solution based on some core principles that stem from of analyzing international experiences and the current context of higher education renovation. The research results show that some key pedagogical universities should be built for leading the teacher education system and improving the quality of teacher training in Vietnam. Furthermore, the paper proposes a plan to merge local pedagogical colleges into local multidisciplinary universities or community colleges in order to maximize resources, improve preschool teachers training quality, at the same time, strengthen the cohesion between pedagogical universities and colleges in the teacher education system of the country.