World Bank offers support to autonomous universities

The World Bank’s board of executive directors on 15 May approved US$155 million in financing to strengthen the research, teaching and institutional capacity of three autonomous universities and improve the management of Vietnam’s higher education system, reports The Financial.

More than 150,000 students and 3,900 members of faculty will benefit from the investments for the Vietnam National University of Agriculture, the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi, and the Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City. Some 600,000 students and 27,000 lecturers from other higher education institutions will also broaden their learning resources by gaining access to a digital library at the National Economics University, according to the World Bank.

“Vietnam’s gains in higher education are evident in the numbers: 17 times more students enrolled since 1991,” says Ousmane Dione, the World Bank country director for Vietnam. “But Vietnam needs stronger growth in labour productivity and further significant shifts of the workforce to more productive sectors. Addressing this challenge requires different skills sets and competencies and further strengthening the access to, and quality of higher education. This is at the core of what this project aims to achieve.”
Full report on The Financial site