Efficiency-Based Ranking: A Case of Vietnamese Public Universities

Abstract

Viet Nam's tertiary education sector has obtained remarkable achievements in terms of policies of national reform and strategies of international cooperation during the renovation process. However, whether these policies are appropriate for the country to quickly find its place in the global market place is still unclear. Although a number of government regulations have been devised to accelerate the progress of tertiary institutions, the development of the sector appears to be sluggish. This study aims to: (i) provide an overview of the progress in tertiary sector including innovation in the government policies; and (ii) highlight challenges facing tertiary institutions and evaluate their performance in the practical context. Using the case of 82 public universities for the period 2011-2013, the performance of the sector is examined. Results reveal that the operational efficiency of public institutions is less than one, on average at 0.729, suggesting a significant potential to enhance their performance. Moreover, six key national institutions were ranked on the top 10 based on the efficiency scores. While the ranking system for Vietnamese higher education sector is still an on-going process, assessing the performance of institutions on efficiency-based ranking is an alternative tool to enhance accountability and transparency of institutions in the progress of the comprehensive renovation of the Vietnamese higher education system.