29 November 2013
Australian Ambassador Hugh Borrowman and Prof Pham Vu Luan, Minister for Education and Training signed the MOU on Cooperation in Education and Training on 24th October 2013. The renewal of the MOU, first signed in 1994, is a significant milestone in the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
Through the 40 years of education cooperation, Vietnam and Australia have become close education partners, sharing many of the challenges of delivering quality, relevant education in a rapidly changing world.
Education cooperation began in the earliest days of the diplomatic relationship, with the first Australian scholarships for Vietnam. Over the past 40 years Australia has provided some 4,000 scholarships to Vietnam.
From the 1990s, Vietnamese families have sent children to study in Australia. There are now more Vietnamese students in Australia, some 22,000, than from any other country in South East Asia. Over the past 40 years, more than 40,000 Vietnamese have studied in Australia.
Since 2000, Australian qualifications have been delivered in Vietnam including via partnership with Vietnamese institutions.
The maturing of the education relationship was marked in 2011 by the establishment of the Vietnam-Australia Joint Working Group on Education and Training enabling the two countries to share their approaches to education reform, governance, quality assurance, increasing academic and student mobility and research collaboration.
This renewal of the MoU comes as Australia and Vietnam are entering a new phase in the education relationship.
The recently elected Australian Government, mindful of the power of international education to broaden minds and create valuable personal and institutional links has announced a signature initiative - the New Colombo Plan - which will enable greater numbers of Australians to study and undertake internships in Asia.
Looking ahead, the bilateral education relationship will continue to feature scholarships, Australia will continue to welcome Vietnamese and more Australian and Vietnamese institutions will partner to deliver joint programs and expand research collaboration.
The New Colombo Plan will herald a new phase in the education relationship, with many more young Australians studying, researching and gaining professional experience in Vietnam.
HE Mr Hugh Borrowman, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam and HE Prof Pham Vu Luan, Minister for Education and Training signed the MOU on Cooperation in Education and Training on 24th October 2013.
Line 1: Ms Sally Burnard, Counsellor (Education and Science), Australian Ambassador Mr Hugh Borrowman, Minister Pham Vu Luan, Mr Tran Ba Viet Dzung, Director General for International Cooperation, Dr Nguyen Thi Thanh Minh, Deputy Director General for Vietnam International Education Development
Line 2: Dr Bui Anh Tuan, Director General for Higher Education, Dr Ta Duc Thinh, Director General for Science, Technology and Environment, Mr Nguyen Khang, Deputy Director General for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Mr Nguyen Duc Huu, Deputy Director General for Primary Education, Mr Nguyen Ba Minh, Director General for Early Childhood Education, MOET