Opportunity to become a regional university education hub

As Dong Nai is getting ready to become a centrally governed city, it is embracing a historic opportunity to reorganize its educational system. The appeal of key national projects opens up a golden period for Dong Nai to break through and become a human resource training hub for the Southeast region and the entire country.

High school students visit the artificial intelligence training program at Dong Nai Technology University. Photo: Cong Nghia

To achieve this goal, the education system needs strong reorganization and close alignment with real-world demands. The cooperation between macro-level policy and educational institutions' internal push for innovation is the key factor.

Efforts to meet workforce demands

After the administrative merger with the former Binh Phuoc province, Dong Nai currently houses 4 universities and 3 university branches. In addition, there are 10 colleges directly involved in training human resources. This network of institutions has initially supplied basic human resources for the province’s socio-economic development.

However, in the new technological era, the capacity of these institutions to meet demand is facing many challenges. The number of graduates in specialized technical fields remains relatively modest and has not yet met the “thirst” of the market. In core technology sectors, Dong Nai still remains on the sidelines, while the output quality of some majors needs urgent improvement to approach international standards.

A bright spot is that Dong Nai already has several private universities developing strongly and moving towards quality accreditation according to Vietnamese and Southeast Asian standards. Typically, Lac Hong University has undergone three cycles of quality accreditation under Vietnamese standards; many programs meet the ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) network, and some of its majors have achieved the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) accreditation of the United States. At the vocational education level, Lilama 2 International Technology College has also affirmed its reputation with international-standard quality across most training programs.

Educational institutions have embarked on strengthening partnerships with major enterprises in workforce training. Companies such as On Semiconductor Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Park), SMC Corporation (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. (Long Duc Industrial Park), and Bosch Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Long Thanh Industrial Park) are willing to provide practical equipment for students. Through such extensive cooperation, technology transfer activities between educational institutions and enterprises have been promoted, helping universities and colleges gradually secure a stable position for students with the aim of integrating the young workforce into key projects of the province.

Opportunity to affirm training position

The fact that Dong Nai is preparing to become a centrally governed city brings a historic opportunity to educational institutions, enabling them to enhance their position and then it will become easier for these institutions to attract more students and recruit enterprises if training quality is ensured. Dr. Nguyen Trong Trung, Vice Rector of Dong Nai Technology University, noted that the future city status of Dong Nai will significantly increase opportunities and attractiveness in student enrollment from other provinces and cities. This is also a solid foundation for institutions to access investment resources and expand their influence across the region.

Dong Nai currently possesses a full system of strategic transport infrastructure, especially Long Thanh International Airport and Phuoc An Port. Industrial parks in the province have attracted many large investors, and two new-generation industrial parks near Long Thanh Airport have recently been launched. Therefore, educational institutions need to accelerate development in high-tech and core technology fields to compete with major training centers such as Ho Chi Minh City.

Le Truong Son, Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee,

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee

The appeal of Dong Nai’s urban area, with its strong, modern, and synchronized infrastructure, is attracting many major universities to open branches and join the human resource supply chain. Many institutions are actively promoting investment, such as University of Transport Ho Chi Minh City and Ho Chi Minh City Open University are actively promoting investment. In addition, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City and Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology are also quickly approaching this opportunity.

Assoc. Prof. Ph. Lam Thanh Hien, Rector of Lac Hong University, said, “Our university has accompanied Dong Nai for nearly 30 years, the opportunity for development is even greater as the province prepares to become a centrally governed city. Therefore, our university is urgently implementing a strategy to restructure training programs”.

In the new context, Dong Nai has proactively introduced practical solutions to attract educational development projects. The province is planning university urban areas in Long Khanh, Nhon Trach and Long Thanh. Notably, the Provincial People’s Council has recently approved a policy to attract PhDs to Dong Nai University with support of up to 400 million VND, while allocating land for the development of a second campus in Binh Phuoc ward.  

Dr. Dang Anh Tuan, Rector of Dong Nai University, said: “The provincial approval of this resolution will help the university make breakthroughs in attracting high-quality human resources. It is expected that once the policy is applied, the university will attract talent to open new training programs aligned with the province’s development needs, especially to realize the Resolution of the 1st Provincial Party Congress, term 2025–2030, which aims to develop Dong Nai University into a leading high-quality training institution in the province and the region.

According to experts from the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, to become a leading higher education center, Dong Nai needs to prioritize educational institutions in terms of land resources, tax policies and access to investment funds to develop infrastructure such as lecture halls and dormitories. At the same time, there should be binding mechanisms for enterprises participating in the training process. The province should also adopt specific policies encouraging institutions to focus on key sectors such as aviation, high-speed rail, semiconductor microchips, logistics and tourism. Training development must be carried out cautiously, closely aligned with actual labour demand and subject to the strict regulation from the province.

By Cong Nghia – Translated by Minh Hong, Thu Ha