Silver School to Help Develop Social Work Profession in Vietnam

The Silver School of Social Work (SSSW) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE) to assist in the development of social work education in Vietnam and to advise in the establishment of social work as a recognized profession in that country. 

      This multi-year effort began with an invitation from HNUE to SSSW to visit Hanoi and explore the possibility of collaboration. In January 2008, a group of professors led by Dean Suzanne England traveled to Vietnam and met with Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen, dean of the Department of Special Education at HNUE, who had come to NYU in 2007 as a Fulbright scholar. Working with Yen, SSSW will help lay the foundation for an M.S.W. program, improve the quality of existing bachelor’s programs, and build the capacity for field work education. 

      At the same time, Silver School faculty are advising Nguyen Thi Lan (M.S.W. ’99), deputy director general of the Department of Social Protection within Vietnam’s Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs. Lan is writing a professional labor code for social work—currently, the majority of social work in Vietnam is done through charitable organizations. The acceptance of a labor code by the government is an essential step towards having social work officially recognized as a profession, and is also crucial in garnering government support to fund a graduate curriculum.

      Prior to the signing of the memorandum of understanding, Silver School professors Helle Thorning and Tazuko Shibusawa had conducted a needs assessment evaluation in Vietnam in September 2007, and professor Carol Tosone visited Vietnam as a Fulbright scholar, lecturing on social work in Hanoi, meeting with key educators and ministers, and touring service agencies.