'Vietnam has only a few universities ranked in the world'

Only 5-6 Vietnamese universities are present in world university rankings, much lower than Malaysia and Thailand, so they need to improve, according to a study by Hanoi National University.

At the 2023 Forum on Pedagogical Science and Education organized by the University of Education, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, on the morning of October 27 in Hanoi, Master Ngo Tien Nhat, Institute of Quality Assurance, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, announced the results of research on international rankings of Vietnamese universities.

According to Mr. Nhat, since 2019, Vietnam has had 2-3 representatives appearing in the world's best university rankings by QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) and THE (Times Higher Education), ranked 801-1,000. In the following five years, the number of ranked schools increased to a maximum of 6.

"The number of universities participating in the ranking has increased, but not much, only around 5-6 schools, including two National Universities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Duy Tan, Ton Duc Thang, and recently Hue University," said Mr. Nhat.

Master Ngo Tien Nhat, researcher at the Institute of Quality Assurance, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, at the workshop on the morning of October 27. Photo: Thanh Hang — Master Ngo Tien Nhat, researcher at the Institute of Quality Assurance, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, at the workshop on the morning of October 27. Photo: *Thanh Hang*

Compared to other countries in the Southeast Asian region, the number of Vietnamese universities ranked is still modest, 3-6 times lower than that of Malaysia, Indonesia or Thailand.

Specifically, in the QS rankings, Vietnam has only 5 universities, the highest ranking is 514. Meanwhile, Indonesia has 26 schools, Malaysia 28, Thailand 13. The rankings of these schools range from 65-237. Or Brunei has only 2 schools ranked but the highest position is 387, Singapore has 4 schools with the highest ranking is 8. Thus, in the QS table, Vietnam's ranking is the lowest among the 7 Southeast Asian countries represented.

The situation is better in the THE table. Vietnam has 6 schools in the ranking, the highest position is 601-800, above the Philippines and Indonesia in terms of ranking, more than Brunei and Singapore in terms of quantity.

Nation	QS (number of schools - highest ranking)	THE (number of schools - highest ranking)
Vietnam	5 (514)	6 (601-800)
Brunei	2 (387)	2 (401-500)
Indonesia	26 (237)	33 (801-1,100)
Malaysia	28 (65)	26 (251-300)
Philippines	5 (404)	14 (1,001-1,200)
Singapore	4 (8)	2 (19)
Thailand	13 (211)	27 (601-800)

Mr. Nhat said that one of the main reasons why Vietnam has few representatives in international rankings is the psychological barrier, thinking it is very difficult to participate.

Currently, there are university rankings that compile information that schools make public, but there are also tables that both collect and require schools to register to participate and submit data. QS and THE belong to the second group.

"It's true that compared to Vietnam, the world's criteria are difficult, but schools should also be more proactive," said Mr. Nhat.

In addition, most Vietnamese universities focus on training in one field, due to their history as single-field training schools. However, rankings generally require many criteria, from many fields, so the ranked schools are mainly multidisciplinary universities.

"For a specialized school like Medicine or Pharmacy, the related scores in the fields of natural sciences, social sciences, education... will be lower, so obviously it will be more difficult to participate in the ranking," Mr. Nhat gave an example.

If the situation of too few Vietnamese universities appearing in regional and world rankings continues, Mr. Nhat said it will negatively affect the social accountability of the universities.

Compared to the Southeast Asian region, he said education experts see the quality of training at Vietnamese universities as not inferior, but "if you can do it, you have to show it to the world". Participating in rankings is also a step for schools to compare themselves with the world, thereby learning from progressive models or knowing what needs to be improved.

Initially, Mr. Nhat suggested that universities look for boards by field and region, such as the HURS board for medical and pharmaceutical schools in Southeast Asia.

Along with that, schools can consider participating in narrower rankings such as the Impact ranking, sustainable development, by many criteria and allowing schools to choose the appropriate set of criteria. Vietnam started having two representatives in the Impact table from 2020, increasing to 9 in four years. This is the ranking with the most Vietnamese universities.

However, experts warn that schools should not develop too quickly. This is not in line with sustainable development criteria and can create a breakdown in the development process.

Regarding learners, Mr. Nhat advised that when choosing a school, students should consider many other factors. International rankings bring reputation to the school, but this is only a reference channel, not saying the whole quality of training and entrance standards.

Thanh Hang

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