The partnership will focus on raising standards in English language teaching and English-medium instructions.

“This agreement does not come as a surprise, given the widespread use and popularity of Cambridge programs”

“The focus of our collaboration with the Ministry of Education in Vietnam is about sharing assessment expertise to boost education and economic growth,” Lim Cheng Pier, regional director of South East Asia and Pacific at Cambridge Assessment English told The PIE News.

“It’s very early days at the moment but we hope to work together in a number of areas to improve the quality of English language education, including exploring the impact of technology is having on the classroom.”

The MoU was signed by Vietnam’s Minister of Education and Training Phùng Xuân Nhạ during a visit to Cambridge with a delegation of Vietnamese educational institutions.

As part of the collaboration, the introduction of international qualifications for students and teachers will be considered, while the ministry’s publishing arm, Vietnam Education Publishing House, will work with CUP across a number of areas, including the development of textbooks.

“This agreement does not come as a surprise, given the widespread use and popularity of Cambridge programs and exams in Vietnam,” Capstone Vietnam managing director Mark Ashwill told The PIE, adding that Cambridge Assessment has had an office in Ho Chi Minh City since 2006.

“Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese teachers and students have taken Cambridge English examinations. MoET has chosen well  – to the benefit of the country’s English teachers and a generation of students studying what is by far the most popular foreign language in Viet Nam,” he added.

Cambridge Assessment and CUP also signed an MoU with the vice-chancellor of Hanoi University of Science and Technology on the recognition of Cambridge English Qualifications and Cambridge International AS and A levels.