Brahea Develops Entrepreneurship Education in Hanoi
Experts of the University of Turku are working in collaboration with the teaching staff of the Vietnamese Hanoi University of Science and Technology and the University of Danang to develop the entrepreneurship education of the institutions.
Project Researcher Veijo Pönni of the Brahea Centre is presenting the Business Development Laboratory course to the teachers of the Vietnamese universities. The course offers students the opportunity to develop their business ideas and to receive support in the commercialisation process. The course was launched in 2007 and has received the Teaching Award from the Finnish Association of Business School Graduates.
The collaboration is connected with the Vietnamese universities’ goal of improving the entrepreneurial skills and attitudes as part of the IT education. The field is strong in Vietnam but the country needs especially more IT startup businesses. Hanoi University of Science and Technology and the University of Danang want to improve the employment opportunities of their graduates by increasing entrepreneurship education in their curricula.
Members of the management and the teaching staff of both universities visited the University of Turku to learn about the entrepreneurship education.
‒ We face challenges especially in linking the needs of the industry to education. Our contacts with the businesses are not particularly strong and we are looking for an operation model from Turku. We have received a great deal of important information during our visit, say Vice Rector Huynh Cong Phap from the College of Information Technology of the University Danang and Dean Huynh Quyet Thang from the School of Information and Communication Technology of Hanoi University of Science and Technology.
The four-day intensive period in Turku offered the participants thoughts about the contents, learning goals, materials and pedagogics of entrepreneurship education. The representatives of the Vietnamese universities participated in the ongoing courses. They also visited the BoostTurku entrepreneurship community of higher education students in Turku.
‒ Our IT education is very technical and questions about business and leadership rarely come up. The entrepreneurial activities organised by the students seem to work well in increasing both entrepreneurial skills and enthusiasm, says Huynh Quyet Thang.
Professor of Entrepreneurship Pasi Malinen from the Brahea Centre of the University of Turku will lead the first study module for the students of Hanoi University of Science and Technology and the University of Danang, which was planned in Turku.
‒ We also learned a great deal in the process. For example, the Vietnamese universities can add new courses, based on the needs of the companies, quickly to their curricula. The system is slower here, says Malinen.
The collaboration is funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs as part of the HEI ICI (Higher Education Institutions Institutional Cooperation Instrument) programme.
Text: Taru Suhonen
Translation: Mari Ratia