At least 30 Vietnamese universities have announced they would prioritise or enrol students who have IELTS certificate score from 4.0 to 6.5 and use the English language proficiency certificates as part of their university admission criteria.
Many Vietnamese universities are now offering training programmes that are taught partly or totally in English, and therefore admitting students with good English competency is important to ensure good quality of enrolled students. While it helps diversify assessment methods for universities, open more doors to university education for students, it also promotes English study at highschool level.
On the other side, some teachers raised the issue of inequality for students in the rural and remote areas who face more difficulties accessing English learning programmes and who find it costly to gain an international English certificate.
However, the argument from universities is that they currently only offer 10 - 20 percent of their enrolment quota for students who have either IELTS and TOEFL certificates, so there are still many rooms for other students assessed on other methods.
Read further at: https://vietnamnews.vn/society/914287/universities-english-language-requirements-may-hinder-rural-students-experts-warn.html
Comments by Lien Ta, Senior Education Services Manager:
Diversifying student assessment methods for university enrolment, including using international English language certificates as one of assessment criteria, will become an inevitable trend of Vietnamese universities in the process of becoming more autonomous, and in the context that many universities are now developing high-quality training programmes taught in English. It also aligns well with the promotion of English language learning at high-school level, which is reflected in the National Foreign Language Project (NFLP) by 2025 that targets 100% students from grade 3 to grade 6 to learn a foreign language with the new national foreign language curriculum and English will become compulsory from grade 3. The NFLP also gives priorities to online English provision programmes that help students in remote areas accessing English learning opportunities, through which promotes and develops an inclusive English learning environment in Vietnam.