Higher Education Massification and Quality Assurance in Vietnam: A Case Study of Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City

Abstract

During the past few decades, the massification process in Vietnam proceeded rapidly. Besides the achievements, the rapid expansion of higher education has resulted in various issues, especially an increase in low-quality programs and the mismatch between industry requirements and university graduates’ knowledge and skills. The Vietnamese government is well aware of the need to address the challenges brought by the massification process. A focus for them is the is setting up of the quality assurance (QA) mechanism with astrong emphasis placed on a standard-based accreditation system. This chapter will provide an overview of massification in Vietnam’s higher education during the last two decades and the efforts of the government to develop the national QA mechanism. It also presents the internal quality assurance (IQA) system of Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City as a case study to show that in the context of Vietnamese higher education where the national framework for QA practice still needs time to be improved, higher education institutions (HEIs) need to actively develop and improve their own IQA to catch up with regional and international developments.