In a blow to Vietnam’s international education sector, four colleges have been banned from providing courses validated by foreign universities and colleges, leaving many students without course places. In a blow to Vietnam’s international education sector, four colleges have been banned from providing courses validated by foreign universities and colleges, leaving many students without course places in January.
The Raffles international vocational centre, ILA and ERC language schools, and the Institute of Accounting and Business Management (IABM) – all headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City – were told to cancel degrees and pathways with just days’ notice at the end of December.
Each was fined more than US $3,000 by the Ministry of Education and Training, and told to refund students’ fees.
The colleges are working to replace the students, which number in the hundreds, either abroad or in sister colleges in Vietnam. However, while providers will cover differences in tuition fees, not all have promised to foot other expenses such as flights.
Degree qualifications from the colleges will not be recognised in Vietnam from now on
To make matters worse, the government has said degree qualifications from the colleges will not be recognised in Vietnam from now on, jeopardising the career hopes of many students who have already graduated.
Sources said the crisis followed a change in the law last year, which made colleges validated to offer degrees by foreign partners, and not the government, illegal. The penalised colleges had been working with a broad range of foreign providers including the UK’s University of Greenwich, the Australian Institute Of Business Administration and the International American University in California.
Speaking about the challenges of offshore delivery, executive director of the International Education Association of Australia Phil Honeywood told
The Australian: “The situation highlights the importance of undertaking robust due diligence with local partners,” he said.
“It is just one of the complex sensitivities involved in transnational delivery. For any Australian provider it’s therefore vital to continuously monitor whether local delivery agreements meet all regulatory and legislative requirements of the host country.”
It was given only 10 days’ notice about the government's intended actions
Some suggested that the government knew about the Vietnamese colleges’ operations but decided to punish foreign-linked institutions to protect local businesses. Commenting on a related story on news site
Tuoi Tre, Raffles lecturer Jonathan Lankford wrote, “The government knows about Raffles and is allowing Raffles to operate; Raffles is not doing anything in secret.”
One of the colleges, which did not want to be named, told The PIE it was given only 10 days’ notice about the government's intended actions, despite degree provision constituting nearly 50% of its business. The government has allegedly told the college that it can continue operating by partnering with a domestic university.
In a blow to Vietnam’s international education sector, four colleges have been banned from providing courses validated by foreign universities and colleges, leaving many students without course places in January.
The Raffles international vocational centre, ILA and ERC language schools, and the Institute of Accounting and Business Management (IABM) – all headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City – were told to cancel degrees and pathways with just days’ notice at the end of December.
Each was fined more than US $3,000 by the Ministry of Education and Training, and told to refund students’ fees.
The colleges are working to replace the students, which number in the hundreds, either abroad or in sister colleges in Vietnam. However, while providers will cover differences in tuition fees, not all have promised to foot other expenses such as flights.
Degree qualifications from the colleges will not be recognised in Vietnam from now on
To make matters worse, the government has said degree qualifications from the colleges will not be recognised in Vietnam from now on, jeopardising the career hopes of many students who have already graduated.
Sources said the crisis followed a change in the law last year, which made colleges validated to offer degrees by foreign partners, and not the government, illegal. The penalised colleges had been working with a broad range of foreign providers including the UK’s University of Greenwich, the Australian Institute Of Business Administration and the International American University in California.
Speaking about the challenges of offshore delivery, executive director of the International Education Association of Australia Phil Honeywood told The Australian: “The situation highlights the importance of undertaking robust due diligence with local partners,” he said.
“It is just one of the complex sensitivities involved in transnational delivery. For any Australian provider it’s therefore vital to continuously monitor whether local delivery agreements meet all regulatory and legislative requirements of the host country.”
It was given only 10 days’ notice about the government’s intended actions
Some suggested that the government knew about the Vietnamese colleges’ operations but decided to punish foreign-linked institutions to protect local businesses. Commenting on a related story on news site Tuoi Tre, Raffles lecturer Jonathan Lankford wrote, “The government knows about Raffles and is allowing Raffles to operate; Raffles is not doing anything in secret.”
One of the colleges, which did not want to be named, told The PIE it was given only 10 days’ notice about the government’s intended actions, despite degree provision constituting nearly 50% of its business. The government has allegedly told the college that it can continue operating by partnering with a domestic university.
