British University Vietnam wants to open branch in city

HCMC – The owners of the Hanoi-based British University Vietnam are looking at conditions to open a branch in HCMC, the top executive of the school said.

Sir Graeme Davies, vice chancellor and chairman of the British University Vietnam, told HCMC vice chairman Hua Ngoc Thuan during a courtesy call on Tuesday that he was looking for a site to open the branch.

At the meeting, the vice chairman suggested to Sir Davies that the city government has earmarked a 137-hectare area in the outlying district of Cu Chi District to develop a university area. “If you want to have a look, we’re ready to arrange a sightseeing tour. You will be guided by leaders of the project management board,” said Thuan.

According to Sir Davies, the British University Vietnam was established in September 2009 as a wholly foreign owned institution. This university has five faculties including International Management of Business Administration, Banking and Finance, Marketing Management, and Finance and Accounting.

Sir Davies, who accompanied His Royal Highness (HRH) Prince Andrew to Hanoi to attend the anniversary of 1,000 Years of Thang Long – Hanoi, said the school’s grand opening was held in the capital city last week at the witness of the Prince.

“On this occasion, we are assigned by the Prince to launch his scholarship fund named the Duke of York Scholarship,” said Sir Davies, adding there would be three full scholarships in 2011 which costs US$30,500 each for Vietnamese students.

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Funds holdup stalls dormitory project

Capital and site clearance problems prevent completion of student dorms in HCM City, similar to the finished one above. — VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Vy

HCM CITY — A project to build 60,000-70,000 student dormitory rooms in universities in HCM City by next June has stalled because of a lack of capital and site clearance problems.

The project's management board has already spent VND1 trillion (US$52.3 million) that was assigned for 2010, and has asked for an additional VND1.5 trillion ($77 million)this year, HCM City Department of Construction deputy director Nguyen Van Danh said at a meeting with the municipal People's Committee last week.

"The management board will not be able to receive an advance on 2011 funding, because these projects belong to this year," Danh said.

The dormitories are being built at four universities in the city's northeast university precinct and Ton Duc Thang University in the south.

Funding for the construction is coming from a larger fund of governmental bonds worth VND3.9 trillion ($204 million).

"The lack of capital will prevent completion of dormitories for the University of Transport and HCM City University of Culture by the June deadline," Danh said.

He said the disbursement of VND1 trillion assigned to the projects by the Government has already been completed.

Danh added that as well as the requested extra VND1 trillion to complete infrastructure at four of the universities' dormitories, the dormitory project of National University in HCM City needs an additional VND502 billion($ 25.8 million).

National University authorities said they needed the money because they were struggling with site clearance, compensation and resettlement for the families who gave up their land for the dormitory project.

Site clearance for the National University project succeeded to take only 28ha of the total 56 ha needed. Many families and companies have refused to surrender their land complaining of low compensation rates and delays in construction of 387 flats for resettlement in adjacent to Binh Duong Province.

The construction delays for the resettlement flats were also a problem caused by site clearance.

The city's steering board for the dormitory development plan has recommended the Government to supplement around VND1 trillion for the project and VND502 billion to the National University.

The board also asked the Ministry of Transport to order the Traffic Work Construction JSC No 68, under the management of the ministry, to give land to the National University for the dormitory construction.

Nguyen Thanh Tai, deputy chairman of HCM City People's Committee said every month, the city should complete at least 4,000 rooms to stay on schedule.

He pledged to get the supplement from the Government and deal with the construction of resettlement flats in Binh Duong.

More than half a million students currently study at universities in the city and the number will increase by another 60,000 by 2015 with 70 per cent or 399,000 of them from other provinces.

The demand for dormitories now in HCM City is about 239,000 but only 63,000 are available. — VNS

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Local universities sign IT agreement

HCMC – Local universities which have information technology training field signed an agreement last Thursday in Phan Thiet Town to reinforce cooperation with an aim to develop the country’s IT training and application.

The schools included University of Engineering and Technology under the Vietnam National University in Hanoi, Phan Thiet University, FPT University, and the University of Information Technology under the Vietnam National University in HCMC. Joining the alliance were also Duy Tan University, Hung Vuong University, Ba Ria-Vung Tau University, Information Technology College, Hai Phong Polytechnics College, and Saigon Advanced Institute of Technology.

The signing ceremony was part of the 6th International Conference on Information Technology for Education held Thursday and Friday in HCMC and Phan Thiet.

These universities will together build learning resources consisting of curricula and materials for their IT faculties. The resources will be organized as an online library for lecturers and students from these universities.

The cooperation will also help universities effectively utilize the international human resources such as inviting professors and experts worldwide to teach and give speeches to students of the universities besides sharing materials and free international software in the field of information technology.

“These terms of the agreement will help member universities to gain the best learning results and save costs,” Hoang Van Kiem, rector of the University of Information Technology, told the Daily on the sidelines of the first day of the conference held in HCMC.

“We hope that in the near future, other universities will join our network,” he said.

Last Friday, over 300 delegates and scholars from the U.S., Canada, France, Australia, Singapore, Korea, Japan and Poland attended the second day of the conference in Phan Thiet. They discussed different IT topics, including computer-based education and e-learning, computer science and learning environment, and machine learning among others.

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Tan Tao Group opens university in Long An

Tan Tao University on its opening day on Tuesday - Photo: TTXVN

HCMC- Tan Tao Group on Tuesday inaugurated the first building of its Tan Tao University project in Duc Hoa Town in the Mekong Delta province of Long An, allowing the school to start enrollment in this 2010 – 2011 academic year.

The building with total floor space of 20,000 square meters is located in the Tan Duc Urban Complex and is designed by the Morris Architects, a world-renowned U.S. design and architecture company.

Tan Tao University will seek to enroll some 500 students in nine faculties including finance, accounting, international business, civil engineering, and computer science, among others.

Covering 103 hectares, Tan Tao University as a non-profit private university will use international standard curriculums and use English as an official language for teaching and operation. The university will follow the model of prestigious U.S. schools.

On the same day, the group also awarded nearly 1,000 Hoa Trang Nguyen scholarships to students who won first national prizes as well as winners in international competitions. Those students who scored the highest marks in the university entrance and high-school exams were also awarded the scholarships.

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