In the last 20 years, Viet Nam’s media landscape has expanded rapidly in terms of platforms, publications, journalists and audience. This development has brought increased pressure for the country to raise the quality of its communication and information sector to meet international standards and to provide training capable of producing media professionals equipped to meet the growing demands of a middle income country striving for global position.

The Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) is currently working to establish a new training facility in Ha Noi, the National University of Information and Communications (NUIC), which will provide industry-focused training and demand-driven education in the information and communication field. In its first phase of operation, the university will have five departments:

• Electronics and Tele-communications
• Broadcast Engineering
• Information Technology
• Multimedia Communications
• Economics

A designated MIC working group has drafted curricula for each of the departments of the NUIC and MIC has requested the support of UNESCO Viet Nam to assist in the review and revision of these draft curricula. MIC has also requested UNESCO’s support to review national communications legislation and present findings to the NUIC working group, other ministry representatives and media professionals.

Thus far, UNESCO has worked with the MIC to survey the current Vietnamese course offerings in Journalism and Communication and Information (including the search for institutions emphasizing ICT use in journalism). An international consultant has been contracted to review and revise the curricula in the area of multimedia communications and train MIC, the Working Group and media institutions on international best practices in journalism curricula development and media legislation review. This consultant conducted his first mission to Ha Noi in June 2011, and met with MIC staff and the Working Group to collect information on NUIC’s draft journalism training programmes.

In addition, the all program inputs thus far -- the report on the mapping of national journalism programmes, the review of international journalism education programs, translated national curricula, legal documents related to the media and Media Development Indicators as standards in reviewing and revising of NUIC’s curricula – were reviewed by the consultant and shared with the MIC working group.