From Transparency to Accountability: A Review of Measurement Approaches in Vietnamese Higher Education

Vol 9 No 8 (2026): Volume 09 Issue 08 August 2026

Article Date Published : 7 August 2026 | Page No.: 4305-4315 | Google Scholar | Crossref doi for this article

Abstract :

Accountability has become a central condition of university autonomy, yet it is often measured through its most visible component: publicly available information. This critical narrative review examines how accountability has been conceptualised and measured in higher education and considers the implications for Vietnam during the transition from Circular 36/2017/TT-BGDDT to Circular 09/2024/TT-BGDDT. The review synthesises scholarship on higher education governance, public accountability, quality assurance, performance measurement, and transparency assessment, together with Vietnamese legal and empirical literature. It distinguishes transparency from the wider accountability relationship, compares five measurement families, and identifies recurring validity problems involving proxy indicators, attribution, composite scores, and compliance-oriented behaviour. The Vietnamese policy transition sharpens disclosure requirements by introducing a mandatory annual report, a specific publication deadline, an update rule, a five-year retention period, and an explicit clarity criterion. However, stronger disclosure rules do not by themselves demonstrate answerability, stakeholder dialogue, correction, or organisational learning. To address this gap, the article proposes a three-layer measurement direction: information existence, timeliness, and substantive information quality. The framework supports reproducible web-based assessment while preserving a clear inferential boundary between disclosure compliance and accountability as a broader governance process. The review concludes that Vietnam needs longitudinal, evidence-based measurement that combines document audits with process and stakeholder evidence if regulatory transparency is to develop into meaningful public accountability.

Keywords :

Accountability, Higher Education, information disclosure, Transparency., Vietnam

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Author's Affiliation

   Tuan Thu Trang
Institute of Digital Education and Testing, Vietnam National University, Hanoi & University of Education, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

   Bui Vu Anh
Institute of Digital Education and Testing, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

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Tuan Thu Trang, Bui Vu Anh, 2026

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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From Transparency to Accountability: A Review of Measurement Approaches in Vietnamese Higher Education. Tuan Thu Trang, Bui Vu Anh, 9(8), 4305-4315. Retrieved from https://ijcsrr.org/single-view/?id=27184&pid=27136

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