High school student photos

A physics major at the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted has received two pieces of good news – acceptance letters from MIT and Princeton University in the US.

Covid-19 outbreak is a key factor accelerating the process of digital transformation in Vietnam’s education sector.

Integration of technology has been seen as an effective mean to address shortcomings in the Vietnam’s education access and enhance its efficiency, however, there still exists a number of barriers hindering its digital adoption.

Insiders have said that the biggest issue in the sector’s digitalization is a lack of policies and guidance from the central to local levels with regard to accelerating digital transformation.

Nguyen Son Hai, director of the information technology (IT) Department under the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), told Hanoitimes that the ministry has not yet consistent regulations on online schooling, online testing, assessment as well as quality accreditation of online learning, which is far different from traditional learning.

“The ministry still lacks regulations for organizing online classes and schools in the network, including both short and long term,” Hai said.

Meanwhile, Hai said the sector’s network infrastructure, IT equipment and Internet services for schools, especially in remote areas, are outdated and asynchronous, failing to meet requirements for digitalization.

Director of IT Department under the MoET Nguyen Son Hai. Photo: Anh Kiet

He said the difference in infrastructure development among regions is a problem. To undertake the digitalization process in rural and mountainous areas is far more challenging than in big cities. “Infrastructure, platforms and the environment for digital transformation are not ready there yet,” Hai said.

In addition, the building of digital data including e-books, e-libraries, multiple choice question banks, electronic lectures, e-learning software, and simulation application software has not been systematically formed. Therefore, it is difficult to control online learning quality and content, he noted.

“Online teaching will be effective only if there are sufficient favorable conditions, which will ensure effective online teaching including information infrastructure and terminal devices. All students and teachers must have computers or devices with an internet connection,” Hai told Hanoitimes .

He said teachers need to be well trained in teaching online, while students need to be guided on how to participate in online classes and online teaching activities. Also, there must be instructions on how to organize online classes, and how to examine and assess students’ abilities and recognize online teaching results.

Covid-19 creates new thinking

When schools around the world have to close to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, online schooling is seen as a new poke promoting the Vietnam’s education sector with its effectiveness in sustaining IT skill for both teachers and students during school closures.

According to Nguyen DinhDuc, head of the Training Division of the Vietnam National University in Hanoi (VNU-Hanoi), after a six-month hiatus of 2020, students’ habits and thinking have changed remarkably.

A survey in early 2021 at the VNU-Hanoi found that nearly 60% of students want online classes.

The VNU-Hanoi has put nearly all learning materials into the digital courseware system to replace paper materials, which saves some VND2-3 billion (US$86,483-129,725) a year, Duc said.

Dao Van Diep, a teacher in Hanoi, is teaching online while students are off from school due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: Anh Kiet

He noted that digitalization in education sector has also improved training quality and eased teachers’ workloads, and provided new teaching tools to teachers through the application of digital technology.

“The success of the digitalization in the education sector will make an important contribution to the formation of a digital nation,” Duc said, adding that it is an important task to reform the education sector and improve education quality.

Hoang Thi Mai, a third-year student at the VNU-Hanoi, told Hanoitimes that online schooling weakens students’ soft skills as there is no direct meeting and discussion.

“Online learning allows students to review the lectures and save time since we don’t have to travel,” Mai said.

She added that the biggest advantage of online classes is online storage of all materials, discussion questions and tests which is easily accessible for students anytime and anywhere.

Great efforts of Vietnam’s education sector

Over the past time, the MoET and the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) have jointly encouraged technology firms to support and sponsor technology infrastructure, internet connection and software to help promote online schooling.

The MoET itself has developed a shared digital courseware, including open courseware, with about 5,000 e-lectures, 2,000 videos of lectures broadcast on television, 200 virtual experiments, 200 textbook items, 35,000 multiple-choice questions and over 7,500 doctoral dissertations.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the MoET has launched the website AnToanCovid.vn to build a database and draw maps about pandemic information for educational establishments. Over 18,000 schools update information daily on the website.

The education sector is building a digital capability framework for students, from preschool to general education. Students will not only practice using tools and be given knowledge, but also will develop their thinking skills and creativity.

Chubb Life Vietnam always stands ready to provide timely and practical support to the community

Since opening its first office in the country in 2005, Chubb Life Vietnam has focused on creating a positive impact and sustainable development for the communities in which it operates. The company now employs over 40,000 employees and agents, in over 140 offices across Vietnam and makes an important contribution to the development of the country’s education system.

To date, Chubb Life Vietnam and the Chubb Charitable Foundation have contributed over VND30 billion ($1.3 million) to the construction of nine new schools in Central Vietnam. The company has also funded new educational equipment to schools and awarded scholarships to support thousands of underprivileged students in their schooling.

“We are proud to receive the Certificate of Merit from the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam as part of our continuous effort to support the communities we live and work in,” said Lam Hai Tuan, chairman and country president of Chubb Life Vietnam. “With our goal of sustainable development, Chubb Life Vietnam not only focuses on maintaining exceptional business performance but also strives to create long-term value for our customers and their communities. This award is a great recognition and encouragement to our employees’ unwavering effort to support Vietnam’s future generation.”

Lam Hai Tuan added: “I want to take this opportunity to thank the Ministry for their support and recognition of our work helping to ensure a brighter future for the younger generation.”

Chubb Life Vietnam always stands ready to provide timely and practical support to the community. When a series of rainstorms hit Vietnam’s central region in October 2020, the company donated 15,000 warm coats to children in the affected area through the “Chubb Life Vietnam – Am Tinh Mien Trung ” initiative. Not only did this provide much needed material aid, but it also comforted students and allowed them to get back to their study with ease.

Chubb is the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries and territories, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance, and life insurance to a diverse group of clients.

Chubb Life is the international life insurance division of Chubb. In Vietnam since 2005, Chubb Life launched its fund management company (Chubb Life Fund Management Co., Ltd.) in 2013. The company offers a range of life protection, health, savings, and investment-linked insurance solutions through its agents and its wide network of offices.

Lychee being canned for export to the US. Viet Nam’s exports to the US in the first two months of the year accounted for $13.83 billion or 28.4 per cent of total exports. VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh

Exports for the year as of March 15 were worth US$62.01 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.7 per cent, according to the General Department of Viet Nam Customs.

Exports to the US in the first two months of the year accounted for $13.83 billion or 28.4 per cent of total exports.

In recent years the US has become Viet Nam’s biggest market. Last year, for instance, at $76.4 billion it accounted for 27 per cent of the latter’s total exports.

Than Duc Viet, general director of Garment 10 Joint Stock Company, said there were several factors behind Viet Nam’s rapid growth in exports including to the US.

Primarily, he said, the COVID-19 pandemic has gradually been controlled around the world, especially after several countries started vaccinating their populations, enabling many of them to reopen their borders and trade to resume.

Businesses in the country, hit badly for the last year or so by the pandemic, are making strenuous efforts to bounce back, he pointed out.

Many countries around the world have rolled out large stimulus packages to spend their way out of the economic slump, and this has revived trade, he added.

Many analysts concurred with these views, saying the US recently launched a $1.9 trillion package to make direct payments of $1,400 to individuals earning up to $75,000 a year starting in April.

This is the third and largest stimulus since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

Viet Nam, one of the US’s major exporters, supplying essential items like fisheries products and garments and electronics, is expected to benefit from this relief package.

Viet of Garment 10 told Dau Tu Chung Khoan magazine that Vietnamese exporters hope to get orders from the US.

Americans are known as big spenders, and if they get the money from the Government consumption would surely rise, he said.

His own company’s exports to the US saw relatively high growth in the first quarter and are expected to grow further due to the huge new stimulus package.

Bui Viet Quang, general director of Red River Garment Joint Stock Company, said his company had enough export orders for until August this year, 80 per cent from the US.

“The US’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package will surely affect enterprises that export to the market. We expect to see robust growth [in US export orders] in the fourth quarter.”

Analysts said a recovery in the US economy would help Vietnamese exporters, especially those in the textile and garment industry.

However, analysts also sounded a warning saying while the US stimulus packages would benefit Viet Nam’s exporters in the short term, loose monetary policies could cause high inflation, which would increase their costs whereas they would not be able to increase prices immediately, affecting their margins.

Besides, the inflation would also hurt demand, they added.

Why property companies want to own banks

Nguyen Tuan Anh, director of the State Bank of Viet Nam’s department of credit for economic sectors, said growth in bank lending to the property sector in 2020 was 9.97 per cent, lower than the overall credit growth rate of 12.13 per cent.

This is becoming an emerging trend.

Enterprises in the sector have found it difficult to borrow from banks after the central bank issued a circular in 2019 prescribing limits and prudential ratios for banks.

It reduced the use of short-term deposits for medium- and long-term loans from 40 per cent to 37 per cent from October 2021 and to 30 per cent from October 2022.

This was aimed at controlling credit to high-risk sectors like real estate.

In the event, the only option real estate companies have is to themselves acquire stakes in banks.

They also target owning a piece of securities firms since that would enable them to mobilise capital from the market by issuing stocks and bonds.

Thus, Tran Thi Thu Hang, the CEO of Sunshine group, became vice chairwoman of the Kien Long Joint Stock Commercial Bank in 2018 and chairwoman of KS Joint Stock Company (KS Securities) around the same time, indicating that Sunshine or related parties had become major shareholders in the two.

Analysts said the finance and property sectors always have a symbiotic relationship since the latter is highly capital intensive with slow returns.

Thus, Vingroup has tied up with Techcombank, MIKGroup with VPBank, Dat Xanh Group with Viet A Bank, and TNR Holdings Viet Nam with MSB.

While the Government’s efforts to control lending to the property sector have had some effect, banks remain an important source of funding for real estate development projects.

This trend is expected continue in future, analysts said. VNS