The proposals by general schools to use foreign textbooks has been refused by the watchdog agency, even though imported foreign textbooks are popular in tertiary education in Viet Nam.

The HCM City Economics University in early October 2014 said that two famous books on macroeconomy and microeconomy by N. Gregory Mankiw have been used in a high-quality training program at the school.

N. Gregory Mankiw, an economics professor of Harvard, is considered one of the world’s 25 most famous economists.

It is expected that the two books would be used as the official materials for all students majoring in economics by 2015. Also by that time, 15 more books of foreign publishing houses will also be translated and used as official textbooks at the school.

However, it was FPT University, a school put under the management of FPT, the Vietnamese information technology group, which pioneered the use of foreign textbooks in teaching in Viet Nam.

At the school, foreign syllabuses are applied to all teaching subjects. About 200 textbooks are used by the school.

University students (4-5 year training) study in accordance with imported textbooks and use English daily so they can use English fluently in their future jobs. Meanwhile, junior college students (3-year training) use translated books.

Dam Quang Minh, FPT’s rector, said the school spends VND2 billion every year on the books for university students and VND1 billion on royalties and translation of books for junior college students.

The Phuong Dong people-founded University has also been using foreign textbooks since 2007, though on a smaller scale.

These are mostly books for special curricula in accountancy and business administration, and used for third-year and above students.

Nguyen Trong Hoai, vice president of the HCM City Economics University, said the use of imported textbooks aims to make the curricula “communicative” with schools in the world.

He said this is a right way to internationalize Vietnamese higher education.

When asked why he insists on foreign-based syllabuses instead of domestic ones, Minh said Viet Nam should not compile textbooks, because it is more costly than using foreign textbooks and paying royalties to foreign authors.

“The quality of Vietnamese textbooks is far from international standards,” he commented. “Imported textbooks are really the best products for university education. The advantages of the textbooks cannot be found in Vietnamese textbooks.”

Analysts commented that it is a growing tendency for universities to teach students in accordance with foreign curricula, which are believed to be more suitable for Vietnamese students.

However, some schools still hesitate to join the movement due to limited financial capability and foreign language skills.