Major changes in the socio-economic and political conditions in Vietnam over the last few years towards decentralization, democracy and harmonization have created the necessary conditions and motivation for the revision of forestry curriculum development.
Throughout the 1990s, forestry education at the university level in Vietnam has developed and changed towards an orientation of training social foresters. With support from the Social Forestry Support Program (SFSP) funded by the Swiss Government, changes have been taking place in the agriculture and forestry universities in Vietnam.
Based on the establishment of a national Social Forestry Training Network, new approaches to curriculum development have been applied. For the first time, a National Training Needs Assessment and Workshop were organized. Curricula for social forestry specializations, a social forestry major and other courses were developed using approaches with the participation of stakeholders, based on the training needs of Vietnamese society. Curriculum development has been seen to have close links with human resource development and the generation of knowledge through research activities and extension in the field. An information exchange system has been established to support and facilitate the curriculum development process.
It is important to acknowledge, however, that as well as providing opportunities, participatory curriculum development in a nation-wide network faces new obstacles and challenges. Lessons learned from Vietnam suggest that in order to facilitate forestry curriculum development and to bring about real change, an intervention must work at institutional level as well as with individuals. Special attention must be paid to the creation of a system that locates the PCD process within an integrated approach to human resource development, generation of knowledge and the establishment of a wide information exchange network for collaboration and sharing among stakeholders.
In order to facilitate the forestry curriculum revision process and based on some achievements and experience over the past few years, some recommendations can be made:
1. It is extremely valuable to establish a forestry training network which creates opportunities for sharing and co-operation between training institutions. This training network can be expanded from universities to include colleges, vocational and technical schools, and even extension and field-based organizations.
2. PCD needs to be based on a "human resources development" program, including development and training of teachers. Curriculum revision must be founded upon the generation of knowledge from reality or based on sharing experience from other institutions. Curriculum development needs time to improve knowledge and to learn from experience. Developing resources for training is also essential to make the improvement of training institutions a sustainable process.
3. It is necessary to analyse and choose appropriate approaches to curriculum development for different majors and subjects. PCD has a lot of advantages, but it is time consuming and costly.
4. In curriculum development, it is necessary to focus on the development of training contents, methods and teaching materials. However, as experience has shown, the application of learner-centred teaching methods and the development of supporting teaching and learning materials require a certain level of capacity of the teachers and also a minimum requirement for physical conditions.
5. It is important to establish a mechanism for collaboration between the training, research and extension components. This collaboration can be created within a training institution or between training and extension institutions. The collaboration must begin with a willingness to co-operate, based on the recognition of a mutual benefit for both sides during the curriculum development process.
6. A system is needed for the exchange of information in order to promote the whole PCD process. This may include facilities such as e-mail, fax, collaboration in the development of a website or specialized publications. In order to ensure a continuous exchange between stakeholders however, it is necessary to establish a co-operative mechanism, which ensures benefits to all.
7. An important organizational strategy is to create a link between training and service activities. Most of the training institutions in Vietnam, and in many other countries, face severe financial constraints. Undertaking external assignments such as providing services to international programmes and organizations may generate resources for the universities. Such money may be used to promote research and other academic uses. However, taking on external activities requires time and energy. There is a danger that more attractive or lucrative work offered by outside organizations may be taken up to the disadvantage of the "regular" training activities at the institution. Unless a conscious decision is made to change the overall training strategy, the core activities of teaching and learning should not be neglected by teachers or by the institution as a whole.
8. It is important to create a system for regular monitoring, evaluation and feedback. This system should exist within, as well as outside, the institution and should include all stakeholders. Experience shows that monitoring and evaluation are often difficult, so there must be a mechanism to ensure that it is undertaken. The CIPP model of evaluation is considered an appropriate one in PCD in the Vietnam context and it can be applied to different types and levels of training.
