The ceremony was hold on 24th November 2020 at Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 97 Vo Van Tan, Ward 6, District 3, HCMC for the credit transfer programs between HCMCOU and Flinders University (Australia). This event was in presence of Ms. Petrina Lawson, Deputy Consul-General from Australia Consulate General at HCMC, Ms. Huyen TRAN, representative of Flinders University in Vietnam, Associate Professor Doctor Nguyen Minh Ha - Rector of HCMC Open University, leaders, staff, lecturers, visiting lecturers, parents, students and media agencies.

This Opening and Closing Ceremony of the International Credit Transfer Programs is a result of the cooperation between HCMCOU and Flinders University. This year is the third year for the programs of Business and Commerce, and the first year for the new program—Bachelor of Languages. The programs allow students to study from 1,5 years to 2 years in Vietnam; and then from 1 year to 2 years in Australia. This cooperation brings new opportunities for Vietnamese students to participate in Australian educational environment. This helps to improve the human resources in Vietnam and then affect Vietnamese economic development in future.

In 2018, the Open University welcomed 17 students to the Business and Commerce programs. Today, they are here to get the certificates of completing the first phase at OU. These students now have been got offer letters and awarded a 20% tuition fee waiver by Flinders University for studying 2 years in Australia. Amongst of them, three excellent students have received scholarships of 25 million VND from ATS that are OU’s partner.

Last year, at the same time, the university also welcomed 27 students to these programs. Today, they are here to participate the Opening Ceremony with the new students. During last year, they are happy to study here and have tried as much as possible to get high scores. The lecturers strongly believe that all of them will come to Australia next year, after complete 1,5 years with us.

Associate Professor Nguyen Minh Ha said “our University is dedicated to promoting a society with active learning by offering the most flexible arrangements to students using the most appropriate and effective methods of education. We have collaborated with various foreign institutions and organizations to promote research, academic and cultural exchange among lecturers and students such as Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium), University of Southern Queensland (Australia), Edith Cowan University (Australia), Berlin School of Economics and Law (Germany), ROUEN (France), and here with Flinders”.

The Rector also said “Ho Chi Minh City Open University was founded in 1990 to meet the needs of educational transformation and improvement in educator’s knowledge and skills in Vietnam. It has formally become a public University since 2006, which offers multi-degree programs across a wide range of subjects in both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. This year, OU celebrates its 30th anniversary in higher education and training. The University is ranked in top 8 in teaching and learning strategy by Times Higher Education Organization in 2020”.

Ms. Petrina Lawson, Deputy Consul-General from Australia Consulate General, HCMC congratulated all the young and talented graduates who have dedicated two years of hard work of these courses.  She said that their degree will be a valuable gateway to promising careers. She said to the students that they will be entering a transformed world—but they will be positioned to understand this workforce, to shape it and to take opportunities that are presented to them as they go forward in their careers. She also congratulated Flinders University and Ho Chi Minh City Open University for opening access to world-class education and training for young Vietnamese students.