School - Enterprise cooperation - Improving the training quality of Banking - Finance specialsm

The delegates including the managers and enterprisers, who have recruited graduates of Banking - Finance in the whole country, together with leaders and lecturers of the university of Economics discussed  to come up with particular solutions at the seminar "Improving quality of training Banking – Finance specialism – Affiliating the university with businesses " at the University of Economics - University of Danang over the weekend. This was also an activity among  the series of events celebrating 30th anniversary of training Finance  and Banking specialism  at the University of Economics. The seminar welcomed a large number of participants including  the Director of the University of Danang, representatives of the departments and boards,  alumni currently holding important positions at state agencies and banks in the city, students from the Faculty of Banking-Finance, and the mass media.

PGS.TS Nguyễn Mạnh Toàn - Hiệu trưởng Nhà trường phát biểu khai mạc

The seminar is  a forum for scientists, professionals and employers to share knowledge, experience and exchange ideas on solutions to improving the training quality of banking and finance specialism, meeting the human resource requirements of this field in the new context, and at the same time, maintaining  the relationship between the university and state financial organisations, non-financial businesses  and banks in the Banking - Finance Training program.
At the opening speech, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Toan said: "With 3 specialisms of higher education namely Banking, Corporate Finance, Public Finance, and the Master's and PhD programs, the faculty of Banking and Finance has so far had thousands of students and graduates from this university, having contributed significantly to the process of innovation, development and integration of the economy in general, the field of Banking - Finance of the Central Region - Central Highlands and the whole country.
In recent years, the training of Banking and Finance has made dramatic changes in terms of scale as well as training quality. The cooperation between banks and enterprises has been increasingly focused. We look forward to the valuable participation and contributions of the state finance organisations, banks and businesses that will help the university to have positive and timely adjustments for training programs, internship as well as career guidance for specialized students. "

Seen from the real situation
At the seminar, the delegates heard four presentations reflecting the current situation and proposed solutions to improving the training quality of Banking and Finance:
- Developing and improving the program, the process of organizing training: Dr. Ho Huu Tien - Head of Banking Division, Faculty of Banking, University of Economics. Two issues were clarified: the process of developing the training program in banking and finance, the initiative of the university in connection with the State management agencies, non-financial enterprises, financial enterprises and other organizations. Clearly the connection between the parties has given students more practical knowledge, improved necessary skills , helped them be acquainted with work pressure and reinforced public accountability as well as a sense of ethics. However, the discussion also showed that between the university and enterprises, mechanisms, policies and conditions for shaping, developing and concretizing this linkage have not yet been formed.
- The presentation on The current status of learning and the expectations of students in Banking - Finance in the training process and recruitment - by Le Thi To Nhu, a 39K07-CLC student: The presentation is the main feeling of learners about which students enjoy when studying in Banking - Finance at University of Economics. Le Thi To Nhu highly appreciated the training program of the University, which is updated and asymptotic with the advanced training programs in the world, diversified learning materials; Instructors teach with their whole devotion and enthusiasm; At the same time, the University also has many scholarships for students to exchange / transfer abroad to expand their knowledge. However, learners need more practical approach, skill workshops, and business talk sessions ...
At the same time, in the presentation: Skills to equip students in the new context - by Le Hai Bac, Head of Internal Audit Department of Central Vietnam, Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam introduced to the whole participants the skills that the trainees need, including: exploring and finding information, teamwork, interviewing job seekers, time management and especially sales skills.
- The presentation on Strengthening the cooperation between schools and enterprises – by MSc Pham Thi Thu Hien - Deputy Director of Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development, Da Nang branch shows that this cooperation is currently based on the short-term plan rather than   from the long-term perspective. The author proposed 3 groups of solutions from the School, Business and Authorities.

Solutions drastically put into practice

The discussion took place with a lot of direct comments under the direction of Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Toan - Rector of the University, Assoc. Prof. Lam Chi Dung - Head of Banking, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hoa Nhan - Head of Corporate Finance Department and MSc. Vo Minh - Director of the State Bank - Da Nang Branch.

The delegates agreed to appreciate the prestige of the University of Economics - Da Nang University with the evidence of thousands of graduates having jobs and working in important positions in various organizations, many of whom were the participants at the conference. Many employers who attended the seminar also appreciated the knowledge base as well as the thinking of graduates from the University of Economics.

The discussion pointed out the challenges for Banking and Finance students in the new period: The revolution in information technology requires graduates to be able to adapt and master the technology to keep up with trends; In addition, sales skill is one of the extremely necessary skills , but many graduates still lack it and cannot imagine the pressure of the profession.
In addition, the delegates also pointed out some limitations in the internship program of students when there is a lack of interaction between the university and the Enterprise. Some banks also introduced many practical training programs for students in the third and fourth year, but the students did not actively grasp the opportunities. 

The synthesized opinions of the delegates: the group of skills that students need to equip right now is foreign language - soft skills and teamwork skill.

Photo: Discussion Board (left to right): Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hoa Nhan - Head of Corporate Finance; Prof. Vo Minh - Director of the State Bank - Da Nang branch; Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Toan - Rector of the school; Assoc. Prof. Lam Chi Dung - Head of Banking;

The solutions proposed by the participants to improve the quality of Banking and Finance training are: -organizing more workshops and seminars between learners and representatives of banks and enterprises in order that the leaners can catch up with career trends and practical situations. -promoting practice, creating opportunities for teachers to penetrate reality. The university, in particular the Faculty should organize many small projects for students to implement, through which they have both practical knowledge and familiarity with teamwork in a more active way. -In addition, in order to create employment opportunities for graduates from the University, an information channel should be established so that recruiters and graduates can "find each other".

 In order to make the solutions come true, in the summary of the talk, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Manh Toan - Rector of the University of Economics - University of Danang sent thanks to the sentiment and enthusiasm of all the delegates who came and discussed enthusiastically at the discussion, and the Rector also suggested ways to implement solutions in the reality: The university will soon set up a department in charge of linking the University - Business to advise and make appropriate strategies to maximize the potential of this link in the training of talents; Encourage businesses to attend seminars, inspirations and experiences as well as participate in scientific research and exchange of fine arts with students and lecturers; Raise awareness of the importance of internships for students; Promote soft skills training for learners; In particular, the university is calling for the idea of ​​inviting banks to open a transaction office at the University so that students and teachers can access the reality more easily as well as tighten the link between the school and the business industry ...