VZCZCXRO3572
RR RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #2944/01 3350941
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 010941Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4063
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 2194
RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 002944 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID OEXC SCUL PREL PGOV VM
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH MINISTER OF EDUCATION ON U.S. 
VISIT AND PEACE CORPS 
 
 
SENSITIVE - DO NOT POST ON INTERNET 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Ambassador Marine had his first official meeting 
with Minister of Education and Training Dr. Nguyen Thien Nhan on 
November 30.  The meeting took place days before Dr. Nhan's first 
visit as Minister to the United States on what his staff is calling 
a "study tour."  Minster Nhan expressed interest in examining 
various aspects of the U.S. higher education system for possible 
implementation in Vietnam.  He has a number of innovative ideas for 
dramatically updating and upgrading the Vietnamese educational 
system, including increased competition and introduction of 
education management protocols.  In response to the Ambassador's 
push for the conclusion of a Peace Corps country agreement, Minister 
Nhan stated that his Ministry is not the agency making the key 
decisions on the program but that he would report the Ambassador's 
views and work with other agencies to respond.  End Summary. 
 
EDUCATION INNOVATIONS 
--------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Dr. Nguyen Thien Nhan, who assumed the position of Minister 
of Education and Training in July 2006, has a strong U.S. academic 
background.  In 1995, he received a Masters of Public Administration 
from the University of Oregon, which he attended on a Fulbright 
scholarship, and since has participated in three academic programs 
at Harvard.  A southerner, Nhan was chosen for his new position with 
a mandate to clean up the Ministry in the wake of the firing of his 
predecessor.  Minister Nhan is known as dynamic and interested in 
reform, and outlined to the Ambassador fairly robust ideas for 
upgrading the moribund Vietnamese educational system at all levels. 
He is going to the United States as the head of an inter-agency GVN 
commission to study the establishment of a "world-class university" 
in Vietnam and will visit several top-tier universities.  He 
indicated to the Ambassador that he also wants to develop strategies 
for improving the quality of all universities in Vietnam.  The 
Minister cited excellent cooperation with the Embassy and with the 
Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF), which is the primary organizer 
of his trip to the United States. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Nhan suggested that Vietnam needed 20,000 more PhDs than it 
currently has in order to support the educational system it needs. 
His approach to creating this new cadre of educators includes 
sending more candidates to study in the United States, working with 
academic organizations (including VEF) to create a "Pre-Doctoral 
Center" where Vietnamese candidates might prepare themselves more 
adequately for doctoral programs in the United States, and creating 
U.S.-Vietnamese university partnerships where Vietnamese scholars 
can receive the kind of innovative training and education they would 
need to transform Vietnam's academic institutions.  He hopes to send 
50 to 60 PhD candidates to the United States each year for the next 
ten years as the foundation for this new group of educators. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Ambassador stressed that, to attract talent back to 
Vietnam, Vietnamese institutions will need to be flexible enough to 
allow returning scholars to enact real change.  He also noted that 
there are not enough universities currently operating in Vietnam to 
accommodate this new corps of scholars and meet the growing demand 
for higher education, and that private academic investment and open 
competition will be critical to creating new schools and improving 
existing ones.  He noted that he recently visited the northeastern 
city of Haiphong and saw a private university which appeared to be 
providing good education at reasonably low prices, a potential model 
for private education. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Minister agreed that a fundamental change of philosophy 
was necessary to revamp the country's universities.  Included in 
this change would be a new approach to private and public 
institutions.  Fifteen percent of Vietnamese students already attend 
private universities, a number the Minister expects to rise to 40 
percent by 2015. The current government policies, however, require 
that students at private universities pay for 100 percent of their 
education, while students at public schools pay for 50 percent or 
less.  Under his revamped program, the Minister anticipates that 
"the funding will follow the student by 2015, rather than the 
institution," thereby automatically requiring universities to 
compete for enrollment.  His goal, he said, was to make private and 
public institutions equally strong.  He also cited low pay for 
teachers and said that the Ministry goal was to raise teachers' pay 
by 80 percent in the next five to ten years, making this important 
career a more desirable and competitive one. 
 
¶6. (U) The Ambassador mentioned the need to enhance English language 
training at all levels of schooling, and the Minister agreed that 
this was critical.  English training already begins in grade three 
in most elementary schools, the Minister said, with some pilot 
programs introducing the language in the first grade.  He 
acknowledged that these programs are hampered by a lack of teachers 
with English language skills. 
 
HANOI 00002944  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Minister noted several areas of particular interest 
which he plans to investigate during his U.S. visit.  The first is 
developing the ability to adequately assess the quality of 
Vietnamese universities.  He hopes to discuss quality criteria with 
his U.S. interlocutors, and to find a way to develop usable criteria 
for Vietnam.  He is also extremely interested in the U.S. university 
and college ranking system and is keen to develop a similar system 
in Vietnam.  The Ambassador explained that, in the United States, 
these rankings are developed by academic or private organizations, 
not the government, and that they were also specific to different 
types of academic institutions.  Finally, the Minister noted that 
there is no tradition in Vietnam of "educational management," and he 
hopes to discuss possibilities for partnerships in the United States 
to train candidates for masters or doctorates in education. 
 
WORLD AIDS DAY 
-------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Ambassador noted that this week he participated in 
events leading up to World AIDS Day on December 1.  He reminded the 
Minister of the myriad efforts of PEPFAR in Vietnam and stressed 
that education in schools at all levels is critical to stemming the 
rise in AIDS, as well as the importance of addressing issues of 
stigmatization and discrimination in schools.  The Minister 
responded very positively that there was an urgent need for AIDS 
education.  He welcomed the Ambassador's offer of cooperation and 
suggested setting up a working group to develop supplemental 
curriculum modules, tailored to the different grade levels that 
could be used by schools throughout Vietnam.  The Ambassador 
responded that he would be happy to work with the Ministry, perhaps 
along with UN staff, to develop this initiative. 
 
PEACE CORPS 
----------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Lastly, the Ambassador raised the issue of the potential 
Vietnam Peace Corps program, stating that both governments have 
approved of the initiative, and had hoped to be able to announce a 
Peace Corps agreement during President George W. Bush's visit. 
Unfortunately, the two sides had not been ready to do so because the 
details of the program had not been resolved.  The Ambassador noted 
that he understands that the Prime Minister has designated MOET as 
the lead Vietnam government agency for the program.  He added that 
Peace Corps volunteers traditionally work in other sectors as well 
as English-language education, including business, health, and 
environment, that the United States would prefer to have volunteers 
working in a greater geographic spread than just Hanoi and Ho Chi 
Minh City.  We would also like to quickly ramp up the program to 
approximately 40 volunteers or more on the ground over the initial 
years of the program. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The Ambassador added that both sides now need to put 
together a country agreement and thanked the Minister for the draft 
agreement that MOET had provided.  The Embassy had forwarded this 
text to the Peace Corps for review.  He stressed that questions 
regarding the status and number of program staff are still need to 
be resolved.  The Ambassador suggested that the two sides sit down 
at the working level to talk through the remaining differences soon 
so that the program will still have a chance to start at the 
beginning of the next academic year.  This lead time will be 
necessary in order for the Peace Corps to be able to recruit and 
train volunteers. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Minister Nhan agreed that that MOET will be the Vietnam 
agency in charge of the program if approval is given.  MOET is not 
the agency, however, making the key decisions on the program, he 
added.  Nhan said he would take account of the Ambassador's views 
and work with other agencies to respond.  While it is true that the 
United States and Vietnam do agree in principle on the benefit of 
establishing a Peace Corps program, Nhan said, the details must be 
worked out to everyone's satisfaction first. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) From this meeting and via other contacts, we understand 
that Minister Nhan is uncomfortable with the prospect of directly 
engaging with the Peace Corps in Washington on this trip.  This does 
not mean that it should not be raised by Minister Nhan's 
interlocutors during his talks in Washington.  In referring to 
"other agencies," Nhan is probably making reference to the Office of 
Government (aka the Prime Minister's Office) and the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs.  We will continue to work with all GVN players to 
narrow differences and help move this important initiative forward. 
 
MARINE