Vietnam International Education Development Scholarships
Jul 27, 2011
In 2010, the Vietnam International Education Development (VIED) will on behalf of Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) select and award scholarships for overseas studies. The Master’s and PhD level scholarships are intended for the overseas training of staff from higher education institutes and state officers, while the scholarships for undergraduate studies will be awarded to excellent Vietnamese students (i.e. students with the best scores at the university entrance examinations) as well as good students from rural and remote areas and students of ethnic minority.
VIED scholarships:
- 500 scholarships for full time doctoral study overseas
- 200 scholarships for full time master’s level to study overseas
- 30 scholarships for short term training courses overseas
- 100 scholarships for doctoral and master study at joint programs
- about 150 scholarships for undergraduate study overseas
The VIED programme has the following funds available for a student:
- USD 740 per month living cost
- Up to USD 900 per year for insurances
- A maximum of USD 10,000 per year for tuition fees
Excellent Vietnamese students who complete their bachelor degrees in Vietnam can be accepted directly into doctoral programs in the US and France. French and German institutes have signed numerous agreements offering tuition fee waivers to encourage Vietnamese students to study in their countries. To attract these scholarships The Netherlands should join the existing programme sponsoring both MA students and PhDs.
The MoET will be in an extremely difficult position should they implement the program to train 20,000 Phds, and there are insufficient candidates with a master’s degree holders to apply for PhDs positions. Given that the Vietnamese candidates will return to official positions in the country upon graduation, they can be important sources of information about the Netherlands in general and Dutch higher education in particular.
Actions that can be taken:
- Provide Masters’ scholarships
- Have quick admission process for 322 applications
- Provide free English preparatory courses for Vietnamese students with 5.5 IELTS, either in Vietnam or in Holland
- Nuffic Neso Vietnam can assist in looking for professors and institutes in NL;
- Offer free liability insurance
- Provide financial aid for research
- Nuffic Neso Vietnam can assist in the student screening and application process before they arrive in the Netherlands
- Nuffic Neso Vietnam can arrange English and academic entry tests for each Dutch HEI
- Provide financial assistance for Dutch professors to visit Vietnam once a year to conduct enrolment interviews
- Provide financial support for travel and accommodation expenses of Vietnamese students who need to travel to main cities to be interviewed
Dutch research universities may discuss amongst themselves which PhD positions they have available to Vietnamese students and provide this information to the MoET and Nuffic Neso. With the support from a consortium of Dutch institutes and the Ministry of Education in the Netherlands, Nuffic Neso could facilitate such a program between the Netherlands and Vietnam. We should choose to sponsor at least thirty PhDs in fields that lack interest from Dutch or even European candidates.
The MoET has indicated that if the Netherlands were to sponsor the VIED programme, it will provide the Netherlands with a list of high level students (with adequate English and academic skills). They also indicated that the MoET will fund the students for 2 years for an MA degree, and 4 years for a PhD degree (US$ 740 a month). The Dutch institutes will be allowed to turn applicants down. If after a year, Dutch institutes are not satisfied with the progress made by the students, they are allowed terminate the PhD contract, but should provide the student with an MA in a similar or related field.
This is an opportunity to invest in the Vietnamese education system that is sure to result in financial as well as diplomatic benefits in the future. Contact Nuffic Neso or the VIED contact directly:
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Vang
Director General
Vietnam international education development (VIED)
P: +84-4-3868 4275
F: +84-4-3868 3247
Email: vang@vied.vn
Website: www.vied.vn