Students sit for the 2018 national high school examination at the Nho Quan C High School in Nho Quan district, Ninh Binh province (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Several universities have included English as one of thecriteria in their enrolment plans for the 2019-2020 academic year.
The HCM City Medicine and Pharmacy University, for example, has three enrolmentplans for new students this year. Of the three, the second requires studentshave a TOEFL iBT 60 or IELTS 6.0 score. The plan is being used for one-quarterof medicine and pharmacy majors.
Similarly, the Foreign Trade University (FTU) for the first time will admit newstudents based on their high school performance and English competency.
Applicants eligible for FTU’s enrolment plan should be high school graduatesfrom specialised maths, physics, chemistry, literatures and language classesfrom specialised schools nationwide. They must have an IELTS certificate scoreof 6.5, or a TOEFL PBT of 550 or TOEFL iBT of 90 points.
Many opportunities are also given to students who show academic excellence.
The HCM City University of Technology under the Vietnam National University-HCM City is offering 14 undergraduates programmes in English. First- andsecond-year students have to pass an English test based on an IELTS format andreceive at least a 6.0 score.
To continue their third and final year of undergraduate study, they must takethe official IELTS tests and score 6.0 or score 79 on the TOFEL iBT.
Dr. Tran The Hoang, Chairmanof the University of Economics HCM City Committee, was quoted by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper as saying that many programmes and majors are now taught inEnglish, and that his school “was paying more attention to English as one ofthe admission criteria”.
He said the school also awards scholarships to students with high IELTS scores.For example, one year of tuition will be waived for those who score 8.0, whilethose who a score 7.0 will receive free tuition for one semester.
In the coming enrolment season, the University of Technical Education HCM Cityplans to allocate 10 per cent of its enrolment quotas to students who have goodhigh school results and either an IELTS or TOEFL certificate.
Dr.Do Van Dung, President of the university, said more schools were focusing onthe importance of English because of the advantage that such skills could bringin the context of global integration.
“If they have good English skills, students can enroll in free online learningcourses, and after graduation can receive higher salaries and have more careeropportunities abroad,” he said.
Dr. Nguyen Thi Kim Phung, head of the higher education department at theMinistry of Education and Training (MOET), said that several universities hadrecently assessed applicants based on their international language certificatesor national high school exam results such as the SAT exam (used in the US), incombination with their high school marks.
These schools have the right to make these kinds of assessments, which areregulated under the Higher Education Law, she said, adding that the admissioncriteria also helps promote the study of foreign languages in high school.
“If universities have better foreign language competency, they will more likelyapply training programmes and processes of developed countries to improve thequality of Vietnamese higher education,” Phung said. “This shows that Vietnam’shigher education is gradually integrating with the world, which will alsoimprove recognition of our degrees in other countries and prepare for workermobility internationally.”
Dr. Hoang Ngoc Vinh, former director of MOET’s occupational educationdepartment, said the new English criterion was a worthy one but noted thatstudents in remote areas face more difficulty accessing English learningprogrammes.
“Universities should also consider socio-economic aspects when prioritisingEnglish skills in the admission process, so that enrolment quotas are dividedfairly,” she said.
In November, Education First (EF) released its English Proficiency Index, whichranked Vietnam 41st out of 88 countries and territories in English-languageproficiency.
Though there was a slight drop in the ranking, the overall English ability ofVietnamese, which EF described as “moderate” last year, has remained stableover the years, according to experts.-VNS/VNA
VNA
