The World Bank (WB) and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Dec 16 signed an agreement in Hanoi under which the former will provide the latter $50 million for the second phase of the Higher Education Development Program (HEDP). This phase aims to modernize higher education and meet the demand for high-quality human resources in the 2011-2020, serving the country’s industrialization and modernization, the Vietnamese Government said on its website Dec 16. Speaking at the ceremony, SBV Governor Nguyen Van Giau spoke highly of WB’s efforts in supporting Vietnam’s education development, especially tertiary education. The governor requested ministries and agencies mobilize all resources to successfully implement the second phase of the program, laying a firm foundation for the design and implementation of the third phase. The first phase of the $150 million three-phase program, which was launched on November 26, 2009, helped the Ministry of Education and Training formulate several important policies to improve management methods and regulations at universities. “Despite the fast expansion and rapid growth in the numbers of universities and colleges, the quality of Vietnam education cannot meet the social demand and development in the region,” Victoria Kwakwa, WB director said. Vietnam now has 375 universities and colleges. The country targets to have one university placed among the world’s top 200 universities by 2020. (www.chinhphu.vn [1] Dec 16)
