A Comparison of Educational Systems in Australia, Vietnam and Nepal

This report provides a comparative analysis of the educational systems in Australia, Vietnam, and Nepal. It examines various factors influencing learning transitions, including cultural changes, curriculum differences, and language barriers. The report highlights the key characteristics of each country's educational system, such as Australia's emphasis on practical application and constructivism, Vietnam's and Nepal's more theory-based approach, and the challenges faced by international students, particularly in communication and cultural adaptation. The report also discusses the impact of these differences on student experiences and outcomes, including the challenges of language barriers and cultural shock. The findings suggest that while Australia offers a more advanced and practical educational system, students from Vietnam and Nepal face significant challenges in adapting to the Australian environment. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for support systems to help international students overcome these obstacles.

RUNNING HEAD: EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
Title: Comparison of Educational System Between Australia, Vietnam and Nepal
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

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Factors affecting the learning transitions:
In general, the theories of transition are of the view that, the economic, social, political as
well as the technological changes in the society affects an individual largely. Scholssberg viewed
transition as the “event or non event that results in changed relationships, routines assumptions
and roles.” In the learning processes, this transition is an important aspect that determines the
future of an individual largely (Gribble et al. 2017). The various models and theories of
transition describe the response of the individuals to the change that has happened either in their
lives or in the environment. it is also an issue of concern that the negative transitions are the
cause of stress in many individual. Among the key factors that affects the students undergoing
transitions are:
1. Cultural change: Transitions in the era of globalisation has been a common factor. Specially
students from the developing third world countries are opting for migrations into the developed
nation for gaining the desired facilities and exposure. Though this seems to be a prospective
factor, the major issue that is being faced by them is the change of culture, which becomes hard
for them to cope up. With the rise in the cross border activities in today’s world, adaptation in a
different culture, has been a common issue. However, researchers have pointed out that the
psychological process are the main emergent results of the transaction between the individual’s
ontogenetic history and social frame work and the newly perceived model. This approach takes
into account the individual traits which constructed as well as entwined with specific mediums
like norms, language, custom or values. The change in the social practices often makes the
migrant students feel out of the place and thus they find difficulties in coping up with them.

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Curriculum change: The changes in the design of the curriculum structure in different countries
also affect the learning process of the individuals. Though there are various countries that have
schools that do not follow the curriculum as prescribed by the host nations, but follow a global
approach. the influence of the host country remains in there. The nature of teaching as well as
learning, the matter of interests of learning among the students of the particular place, the
resources available affect the curriculum formation (Phillips and Simon Davies 2016).
Curriculum are generally formed in keeping with the aims and objectives as well as the general
requirements and target attainments of the society. this often results in the change of curriculum
among various nations particularly the developing and the developed nations. Again, it has been
often noted that the time frame of a particular curriculum varies in places. For example, the in
England, the skills, matters and processes are taught according to the maturities and abilities of
students at the key stage. In various countries the curriculum is more theory based on depends on
the learning process while in others, the understanding and practical applications are of focal
importance. These changes in curriculum often affect the learning transitions.
Language: Language barrier in classroom is one of the major issues that affect students in coping
up with the educational process. Language barriers often prevent the immigrant students from
learning and getting the most out of the education. In various nations, however, the barriers are
being tried to rule out by incorporating visual modes of learning. Though this is one of the
alternatives, this cannot be a full proof alternative. Language problem is faced majorly by the
students who are weak in English as this is one of the most internationally used language (Spinks
and Coleth 2016).

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Comparison of Educational System in Australia, Vietnam and Nepal:
The Australian system of education is mainly characterised by the reliance on the
understanding level of the students. The curriculum is not just a set of composed structure or
tests and the primary concern is on the practical level application of the knowledge. the
educational institutions in the region focuses on the incorporation of the different appraisal
segments that aims on surveying understudies and at the same time assisting them with various
inputs which will be significant in turning fruitful for individuals. This helps the students to
effectively chose the area of their expertise. The Australian educational system is far more
advanced than that of Vietnam and Nepal. There are 43 universities in Australia, mostly public
and designed for international curriculum where as Nepal there are six universities in Nepal.
Though Vietnam has 234 universities, the educational system in Vietnam are more inclined
towards the US model of education (.Tran, T.T.J. and White, J.,2012) Nepal however, sticks firmly
to the indigenous mode of learning. Nepal and Vietnam, in recent times have become important
source of international students in USA and Australia (Tang et al. 2016).
Studies shows that over 50, 00-0 Nepalese students had enrolled to the Australian
Institutions in 2018. In the case of Vietnam, the number of students is however, 26,015. Most of
the Australian universities are public and are governed directly by the government. Nepal and
Vietnam however, have more number of private institutions. These two regions are also
characterised by the lack of proper teaching personnel which accounts for such a number of
migration (Wilson 2017). Moreover, the high rankings of the Australian Universities compared
to the Nepaleese or Vietnam universities also fosters the transition of learnings in Australia from
these places. Australia has a good number of International educational institutions designed for
such purpose. Because of the sticking towards only to the indigenous curriculum, the Nepalese

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structure of curriculum is also outdated considered to that of Australia. The growing rate of
student politics in the universities of Vietnam and Nepal is also a raging cause for the lean
educational system of the area (Wilson 2017). While the educational curriculum in the Vietnam
or Nepalese universities are more theory based and question answer oriented that majorly seek to
assess the learning capabilities of the students, the curriculum in the Australian universities are
more practical. In Vietnam and Nepal, another more concerning factor is the tremendous
inequality in the ratio of classroom capacity and students. This disparity negatively impacts the
educational system which is reflected in the deteriorating job market for the graduates in those
areas. 50% Of the graduates in Vietnam is reportedly jobless at the moment (Rahimi, M. and
Blackmore, J., 2017). Lecture based education is dominant in Nepal and Vietnam while
Australia focuses in the internet usage and application based classes. The prevalent system of
studying based on class notes and lectures has made the students afraid towards the curriculum
(Corcoran, 2016). Contrasted with the Australian system where the education is based on two
way communication students from Vietnam or Nepal would find the later more interesting.
Australian educational system believes more in constructivism where students are responsible in
the creation of their own understanding. Moreover, Australia in contrast to Nepal or Vietnam
does not have the traditional way of evaluating a candidate over the three hours exam. Cheating
rate in Australia is also nominal since the use of applications like Turnitin are applied. In
Vietnam or Nepal where the exam system is traditional and written based, chances of cheating
are higher. Plagiarism issue is not a concerning one in Nepal as it is in Australia and students
have the freedom to duplicate the writings available over net (London, J.D. ed., 2011).
However, one similarity between Australia and Vietnam can be found in their approach
of providing part time or fulltime courses as well as online courses (Tran, L., Marginson,,2017).

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This is also absent in the case of Nepal. All the three regions have, however, the tertiary structure
of education where the highest institutions are the universities or centres of vocational learning.
Problems faced by the students of these areas in Australia:
International students in Australia especially from countries such as Vietnam and Nepal,
which are non-English speaking countries, face a number of challenges in areas such as
communication. Owing to the fact that these are students, who hail from backgrounds in which
they are not accustomed to speaking in English it is often difficult for them to grasp words and
phrases in that are spoken in difficult English. Communication is a definite area where issues or
problems happen to be experienced by the overseas students from Third World countries such as
Vietnam and Nepal. Another issue that is experienced by these students is the culture shock that
greets them when they arrive in Australia, a country that is completely different from their own.
These are students who are now exposed to a completely new way of life and who are faced with
traditions and customs, which they were not familiar with before and are often at a loss as to how
to address such changes (Zhao 2019). They find it difficult to mix with people who are in their
immediate vicinity and more often than not, they are not able to make friends as easily as they
would like to. As a consequence it can be said that the challenges for foreign students in the
country of Australia are many, especially given the fact that they face difficulties in the area of
communication Their lack of good language skills is something that is seen to put them in a great
deal of difficulty. Such students need to be exposed to English language training classes at the
earliest if they are to acquire the skills and the confidence that they need in order to survive in
the foreign land (Wilson 2017).

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