Vietnam’s professors – Get up and do something

I was surfing VietNamNet Bridge when this article popped up straight to my eyes. This is maybe the first time in a long time I’ve seen a good analysis from VNN. I reckon it really worths reading and discussing.

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http://english.vietnamnet.vn/reports/2008/02/768187/

VietNamNet Bridge – When evaluating the intellectual standards of a nation, the number of scientific articles published in international academic journals and respected magazines are considered the top indicator.

Research published in academic journals must go through a strict and rigorous consideration process. The number of published research projects is the number-one standard for promoting professorships at universities and it reflects the scientific productivity of a country.

Research and related publications are usually conducted by post-graduates studying and researching towards earnings Masters or Doctorate level degrees. According to the Vietnam Science and Technology book, by the end of 2003, Vietnam had 2 million college and university graduates, including 14,000 doctors and 20,000 Masters Degree holders; it also had around 6,000 Associate and full-fledged Professors.

The question is how does Vietnam’s scientific productivity rate against other regional countries. To answer this question, we can refer to data provided by the Institute of Scientific Information and Scientific Publications of Vietnam.

Actions speak louder than words – complete silence

Between 1996 and 2005, Vietnamese scientists published 3,456 research projects and results in international scientific magazines. On average, each Associate Professor and Professor of Vietnam published 0.58 scientific articles in 10 years!

In other words, every two professors released just over one article in a decade. Meanwhile, universities in regional countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore set standards or encouraged each professor to have at least one article published in an international scientific magazine every two years. In developed countries, Professors must publish at least one article every two years, otherwise they may lose their job.

Vietnam’s results are modest at best and the lowest in the region. The number of scientific articles published by Vietnamese researchers is equivalent to one fifth that of Thailand (14,494 articles from 1996-2005), one third of Malaysia (9,742), one fourth of Singapore (45,633) and lower than Indonesia and the Phillipines (4,389 and 3,901, respectively).

How about Vietnam’s stronger and weaker research fields? Around one fifth of scientific research is related to biology, compared to 43% in Thailand. Specifically weak fields are the environment (4%), economics (2.5%), biotechnology (1.3%) and humanities-social sciences (1.6%).

The number of scientific publications associated with math and physics makes up nearly one fourth of the total number of published articles, compared to just 0.5-4% in neighboring countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

While Vietnamese scientists lack facilities, around 80% of scientific research in Vietnam is conducted in cooperation with foreigners. Only 20% is entirely performed and run by Vietnamese scientists.

However, that ratio is different for different fields, for example only 3% of medicine-biology research is completely implemented by Vietnamese scientists, none of biotechnology, and up to 66% of math, nearly 40% of technology, and 41% of economics.

Quality of scientific research is also questionable. Valuable research is often cited by international scientists who thereby appraise the validity and importance, it is necessary to look at the citing percentage.

Generally, around one fifth of scientific articles from Vietnam have never been quoted on after five years of publication. This is the same situation in Vietnam’s neighboring countries like Thailand (15%), Malaysia (19%), Indonesia (19%), the Philippines (19%) and Singapore (17%).

Analysis shows that locally-conducted research is usually of lower quality than international research. On average, each locally-conducted research publication is cited 3.2 times while it is 11.6 times for international publications.

Call for Reform

The above data points out that Vietnam’s scientific “output” is very modest compared to regional nations, and completely incomparable to the rest of the world.

Vietnam’s scientific research primarily focuses on theoretical fields, for example math and physics, and Vietnam is weak at researching the application of science and specifically, environmental sciences. Meanwhile, as part of its economic development process, Vietnam needs applicable research rather than theoretical.

Additionally, domestic scientific research largely depends on international assistance. International cooperation significantly helps modern scientific achievements but it is better for cooperation if scientific research is conducted with a majority of Vietnamese materials and funding and the results of which will thereby belong to the Vietnamese people.

It is a fact that many Vietnamese scientists take part in research projects with foreign partners, and the results at attributed to the foreign associates.

Vietnam’s investment in sci-tech is very small compared to neighboring countries. In 2006, the country invested $428 million into science and technology, accounting for around 0.17% of GDP.

According to UNESCO, in Southeast Asia, Singapore has the highest investment in science and technology with 2.2% of GDP, equivalent to $30.1 billion, followed by Malaysia 0.5% of GDP or $1.54 billion, Thailand 0.3% of GDP or $1.79 billion. If based on GDP, Vietnam’s investment in science and technology is higher than Indonesia (0.05%) and Philippines (0.12%).

It is absurd that while many research projects lack capital, the State budget for sci-tech activities is not fully utilized. Budget management and distribution in sci-tech activities is now a problem.

It is necessary to consider the number of scientific research projects announced in international scientific magazines as a key standard in promoting professorship. Vietnam still uses local standards to promote professorship. Most Vietnamese doctors don’t have and may never have articles posted in reputable international scientific journals.

According to statistics, up to 70% of doctors in Vietnam don’t do research but assume administrative and management posts. Consequently, though Vietnam has up to 14,000 doctors and 6,000 professors, its scientific productivity doesn’t even compare to neighboring countries, let alone the rest of the world.

It is said that scientific research in Vietnam is lagging behind economic development. To deal with this, the State needs to reform the scientific management system immediately, or suffer the consequences.

(Source: TTO)

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A very good read. I was never in doubt Vietnam has a poor standard in evaluating and promoting professorship, but the article provides me with a lot more specific and ‘painful’ insights into this shameful reality.

Rash of factory strikes leaves Hanoi uneasy

A SERIES of strikes at factories across Vietnam since the start of the year is beginning to worry the government, which is trying to sustain Vietnam’s decade-long high growth rates of around 8 per cent. It badly wants to keep inflation in check, but the wage increases that strike-hit companies have been forced to give are contributing to a marked rise in inflation expected to hit 7 per cent this year. Although investment has continued to pour in so far, Mr Nguyen Huu Dung, head of the country’s Institute for Labour and Social Science, said last year’s strikes adversely affected Vietnam’s investment prospects.

Certainly, the ruling Communist Party does not want to alienate its base among the nation’s working class, especially as National Assembly elections will be held on May 20. Said Dr Le Bach Duong, director of Hanoi’s Institute for Social Development Studies: ‘The government cannot sacrifice the workers’ interests in order to woo foreign investors.’ It is turning into a vicious circle.

Last week, more than 4,000 workers seeking higher wages at a locally owned shoe factory in the northern port city of Haiphong walked off the job. A couple of days earlier, 2,000 workers at a Taiwan-owned shoe plant in the same city downed tools after complaining about long work hours. Both strikes followed a rash of stoppages at textile, chemical, electronics, footwear, automobile and other manufacturing plants in Hanoi, Haiphong and across provinces in the south, especially around the commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City. In March, 7,000 workers at the Mabuchi Motor Company’s plant in southern Dong Nai province struck for more pay, better conditions and tastier food in the canteen. Other wildcat walkouts involving tens of thousands of workers have disrupted operations at factories owned by investors from South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China, Singapore and Hong Kong. All have been caused by demands for more pay and better conditions.

Increasingly assertive Vietnamese workers claim that factory owners, both local and foreign, unfairly exploit the country’s low wage levels. Said Dr Duong: ‘The main reason for the strikes is that the workers are paid very low salaries which they do not feel reflect their contribution to the profits of the companies where they work.’ The minimum monthly wage in a foreign-owned factory here is 790,000 dong or about US$49 (S$75). To maintain an advantage over more advanced foreign operators, Vietnamese factory owners can pay their workers even less. The minimum monthly wage in a locally owned factory is just US$28, or less than a dollar a day.

Said Dr Duong: ‘The government has to take some responsibility because it set a very low minimum wage level of only about US$30 a month 10 years ago and it has not increased by much, and (even then) only very slowly.’ In many cases, the labour disputes have been settled quickly by plant owners agreeing to pay more money and improve conditions.

The Straits Times (Singapore) 1 May 2007

Vietnam may have 1.5mil newborn babies this year

One week after the recent lunar new year (Tet), nearly 7,000 newborn babies were reported born at 57 hospitals and health stations nationwide, 9% up year on year, the Health Ministry reported.

 

Director of the Hanoi-based Central Obstetrics Hospital, Nguyen Viet Tien, said that the number of pregnant women coming to the hospital for antenatal check-ups had increased suddenly since late 2006.

 

The director predicted that around 20,000 babies would be delivered at his hospital this year, around 2,000 more than last year.

 

According to statistics, Vietnam has around 1.3 million newborn babies each year on average. This year the figure is forecast to grow by 15% to 1.5 million.

 

The reason, according to a senior official from the Institute for Population Strategy, Tran Van Chien, is that 2007 is considered a good year for having babies.

 

Women of child-bearing age currently account for 25-30% of Vietnam’s population.

 

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Vietnam population is now pproximately 84 million people. This year, about 1.5 million babies are born, therefore, the population growth rate is about 1.5 / 84 * 100% = 1.79% – a little bit higher than previous years, which seems not to be a good signal. Although there may be some good reasons for this increase, I think Vietnamese people should limit and reduce this raising number for the sake of the nation.