Hanoi (VNA) ꧋– Nearly 200,000 Vietnamese students are currently learning overseas at different levels, from general education to post-graduate levels. This is equivalent to some 40,000 going abroad to study each year, a 2.5-fold increase compared to the pre-2013 period, statistics show.

Between 2013 and 2022, lecturers from universities and colleges going for overseas training and research numbered 3,535. Meanwhile, the number of foreign students in Vietnam has also been on the rise over the last 10 years to about 22,000 at present, including nearly 4,000 coming in under signed agreements. The figures were released by Pham Quang Hung, Director of the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET)’s International Cooperation Department, at a symposium held on October 31 to review science, technology, and international cooperation during the 10 years of implementing the Party Central Committee’s Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW on the fundamental and comprehensive reform of education and training. International cooperation and integration activities over the past decade have reaped significant achievements, contributing to common successes of the education sector and helping promote the quality, stature and prestige of Vietnam’s education and training at the regional and international levels, he noted. The official said that during the period, the MoET has negotiated and signed 161 international treaties and agreements, and promoted relations in this field with more than 100 countries and territories. The ministry has participated in a number of sub-regional, regional and inter-regional mechanisms such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asia - Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), thus helping promote the country’s cooperation with foreign partners in education and training. Since 2013, there have been over 3,500 memoranda of understanding and agreements on cooperation in training, scientific research, and student and lecturer exchanges signed between Vietnamese and foreign educational institutions. With enhanced multilateral cooperation, Hung noted, Vietnam has established itself as an active member and participated in education-related activities of international and regional organisations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO), ASEAN, APEC, and ASEM. He said the country’s education sector has carried out joint statements and a variety of international education commitments. The Vietnamese Minister of Education and Training served as Chair of the SEAMEO Council in 2013 - 2014 and Chair of ASEAN education cooperation in 2022 - 2023. Under Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW, higher education institutions of Vietnam have also been working hard to improve the quality of human resources via training, student and lecturer exchange, and joint research programmes with foreign partners, Hung added. Data of the MoET show that as of June 2023, 44 higher education institutions of Vietnam had 408 joint training programmes with 102 counterparts in 26 countries and territories. Meanwhile, thanks to relatively comprehensive measures, Vietnam has recorded great strides in investment in education for the last 10 years. As of June 2022, there had been 605 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth 4.5 billion USD from 33 countries and territories in the local education sector, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment./.