HISTORY OF THE FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIRST TEACHER TRAINING SCHOOLS IN SONG BE – BINH DUONG PROVINCE (1976 – 2008)
 
After the liberation of the South and the Reunification of the country, Song Be province was established. To meet the urgent demand for Primary teachers, the Song Be Department of Education opened an accelerated pedagogy course, based in Phu Hoa ward (the current location of Thu Dau Mot University). In March 1976, after the accelerated pedagogy course ended, the People's Committee of Song Be province decided to establish the Song Be Primary and Secondary Pedagogical School under the Song Be Department of Education. The school trained Primary and Secondary teachers with two standard systems: 12+1 and 9+3, with an annual scale of 400-600 students. Alongside the standard systems, there were also sub-standard systems like 9+1, 12+6 months, and some accelerated classes lasting 2-3 months to serve remote, isolated areas and former revolutionary bases that were severely lacking teachers.
Concurrent with the establishment of the Song Be Primary and Secondary Pedagogical School, the School for Childcare Training was also established, under the Song Be Provincial Committee for the Protection of Mothers and Children. The school trained nursery teachers in short-term formats (6 months, 12 months), with an annual scale of 100 - 150 teacher trainees. In 1977, implementing the directive of the Ministry of Education on unifying the early childhood education sector nationwide, Song Be province established the Kindergarten Pedagogical School. In 1989, the School for Childcare Training merged into the Kindergarten Pedagogical School to become the Preschool Pedagogical School.
By 1990, the Preschool Pedagogical School continued to merge into the Song Be Primary and Secondary Pedagogical School. In 1991, the province's Educational Management Staff Training School was also merged into the Song Be Primary and Secondary Pedagogical School. After merging the kindergarten, preschool, and educational management schools, the Song Be Primary and Secondary Pedagogical School became a multi-level pedagogical school, tasked with training and fostering teachers and management staff from childcare and kindergarten to the primary level. For training Secondary teachers, at the end of 1976, Song Be province established the Song Be Secondary Pedagogical School, based in An My commune (now An My High School).
In November 1988, the Song Be Secondary Pedagogical School was recognised by the Council of Ministers (now the Government) to become the Song Be College of Education. In 1991, the Song Be Primary and Secondary Pedagogical School was merged into the Song Be College of Education. Thus, all pedagogical schools of Song Be province were merged into the Song Be College of Education. The Song Be College of Education became the training center for teachers from preschool to secondary levels for Song Be province.
In 1997, Binh Duong province was re-established (splitting Song Be province into Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc provinces). The Song Be College of Education was renamed the Binh Duong College of Education. Performing its function and duty as a teacher training institution, the school provided a significant human resource for the province's education sector. For its achievements, the school was honoured to receive noble awards from the Party and State: the Second-Class Labour Order (1997) and the Third-Class Labour Order (2002).
 
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY
 
From 1997, Binh Duong entered a new period of development. The Binh Duong Provincial Party Committee and authorities identified the top goal as industrialisation and modernisation, turning Binh Duong into a province following the industrial - agricultural - service economic structure associated with urbanisation; attracting many domestic and international investors and deploying many industrial zone and urban projects; planning for Binh Duong to meet the criteria of a municipality by 2020. Socio-economic development raised the demand for high-quality human resources, qualified and skilled labourers, becoming urgent, especially skilled labour for enterprises. Therefore, Binh Duong greatly needed a university of stature, meeting the local study needs of the people while proactively addressing the province's human resource demands.
Originating from this reality, after the 2nd Binh Duong Provincial Party Congress (2001), the Provincial People's Committee agreed in principle to establish a key public university for the province. By November 2007, the Prime Minister agreed in principle to allow the establishment of Thu Dau Mot University based on upgrading the Binh Duong College of Education and assigned the Ministry of Education and Training to guide the development of a feasibility study for establishing the university for Government approval. Accordingly, the Project Board for establishing the university urgently prepared necessary requirements for the university's establishment, such as coordinating with specialised sectors on development planning, the Binh Duong Department of Education and Training, preparing land, infrastructure, training and attracting personnel,... By May 2006, the Ministry of Education and Training worked with Binh Duong province's leaders on the project to establish the provincial university. Concluding this working session, the Ministry of Education and Training approved the legal basis and requirements for establishing a University in Binh Duong province; specifically, including it in the plan for university establishment for the 2006-2010 period to submit to the Prime Minister, and proposing that Binh Duong province create a plan to establish a university based on upgrading the Binh Duong College of Education.
Based on the conclusion of the Ministry of Education and Training, the University Establishment Project Board continued to build the Project for establishing Thu Dau Mot University. In November 2007, the Prime Minister agreed in principle to allow the establishment of Thu Dau Mot University based on upgrading the Binh Duong College of Education and assigned the Ministry of Education and Training to guide the development of a feasibility study for establishing the university for Government approval. In November 2007, Binh Duong province established working groups to implement the Cooperation Program between Binh Duong and Ho Chi Minh City National University for the 2007-2015 period, in which Project 3 implemented the construction of Thu Dau Mot University. In December 2007, the Standing Board of the Provincial Party Committee agreed on the planning to select the location for building Thu Dau Mot University in the My Phuoc industrial and service urban area with an area of over 50 hectares. The Provincial People's Committee committed funding for construction, committed to handing over land for school construction, and committed funding for purchasing equipment. By May 2008, the province completed the feasibility study submitted to the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Home Affairs for appraisal. The Provincial Party Committee and People's Committee also continued to complete the infrastructure for the university's establishment.
With comprehensive preparatory efforts, on June 24, 2009, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 900/QD-TTg on the establishment of Thu Dau Mot University based on upgrading the Binh Duong College of Education.
 
THE MARK OF A NEW UNIVERSITY IN BINH DUONG
 
Thu Dau Mot University was established in the context of the country entering a period of accelerated industrialisation and modernisation, with consistently high and stable economic growth rates. Right from its inception, Thu Dau Mot University defined its mission and goal to build and develop a multi-disciplinary, multi-field higher education institution for undergraduate and postgraduate education following a practical, high-quality orientation, on par with major universities in the country, progressing to regional and international standards; training high-quality human resources to serve the socio-economic development process of Binh Duong province, the Southeastern provinces, and the Southern key economic zone. The university also set goals to develop scientific and technological research, application, and multi-disciplinary, multi-field technology transfer, contributing to solving scientific and practical socio-economic problems of Binh Duong province, the Southeastern provinces, and the Southern key economic zone; participating in policy development and solutions for the sustainable development of the economy, society, education, training, science, and technology of Binh Duong province; participating in supplying scientific and technological products and services to the market.
Developing towards a multi-disciplinary, multi-field university orientation, the university's program structure has been expanded, closely following the human resource market and suitable with local development requirements. To date, the university's system of academic programs is very diverse, spanning many fields. As of October 2025, the university has 47 undergraduate programs, 12 master's programs, and 01 doctoral program, with total students of 23,505. Counting only undergraduate and postgraduate training levels, after 16 years, the University has provided the labour market with over 45 thousand bachelors, engineers, and masters in many specialised fields, and there have also been many scientific and technological products published, applied, and transferred to serve socio-economic development.
In the process of developing its educational brand, the university places special emphasis on building a quality management tool system according to ISO standards, linking training and scientific research activities with community service to fulfill its declared mission and vision. With relentless efforts on the journey to pursue "quality culture". To date, the university has 20 training programs meeting MOET standards, 8 training programs meeting AUN-QA standards; The university met the national education quality accreditation standards MOET cycle 1 in 2027, cycle 2 in 2023; In 2020, the university achieved the UPM 4-star standard; In 2022, the university ranked 15th on the VNUR ranking of 100 Vietnamese universities; In 2023, the university entered the Top 5 Vietnamese universities named on the Schimago rankings; In 2024, the university ranked 18th out of 187 higher education institutions in Vietnam according to the Webometrics ranking; In 2025, the university ranked 28th out of 53 Vietnamese higher education institutions according to the Schimago ranking; notably, the university's Mathematics program entered the Top 5 leading Vietnamese universities in this field on the Schimago ranking. The university is a member of many prestigious scientific and educational organisations: CDIO International (2015), AUN (2017) and is a partner of many universities in the Asian region. There are many exchange activities for lecturers and students, and coordination in organising international seminars with universities from Taiwan, Malaysia, and South Korea. Furthermore, the university has been training 89 Lao undergraduate and graduate students (31 currently studying) in fields of economics, engineering, law, public administration,...
Scientific research activities have developed strongly, deeply, and broadly, enhancing international publications; many state-level, ministerial-level, and provincial-level research programs and projects have been implemented. Specifically, international publications increase annually, averaging 350 ISI, SCOPUS articles/year in the last 3 years, with a fairly high citation index. Some research results have been transferred and applied, such as Cordyceps mushrooms, Ganoderma lucidum, materials from coconut trees... It has hosted many national and international scientific conferences. The number of scientific research projects also increases annually, including many provincial and ministerial-level projects. Thereby, the results from scientific and technological activities contribute importantly to establishing the position and reputation of the university, enhancing staff capacity, improving training quality, and making certain contributions to society.
 
STRETCHING WINGS, TAKING OFF ALONGSIDE HO CHI MINH CITY "MEGA-CITY"
 
On June 24, 2009, Thu Dau Mot University was established under Decision No. 900/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister, marking an important milestone in higher education in Binh Duong province. Over the past 16 years, the university has continuously developed into a multi-disciplinary, multi-field training institution, from undergraduate to postgraduate, becoming a cultural - educational centre, providing high-quality human resources and scientific - technological products to serve the socio-economic development of Binh Duong province, the Southeast region, and the whole country.
A major turning point in the development journey occurred when Thu Dau Mot University was merged under the management of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee (July 2025), becoming an important part of the dynamic, creative, and leading "mega-city" in the region. In the new context, the university has defined its strategic role: to become a centre for high-quality human resource training, a centre for scientific research, technology transfer, and innovation, contributing to solving practical problems, promoting linkages between education - business - society, while enhancing the competitiveness and international integration of Ho Chi Minh City.
Based on Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW dated October 7, 2022, of the Politburo on socio-economic development and ensuring national defence and security in the Southeast region, Thu Dau Mot University orients its development closely linked with the policies and guidelines of the Party and State, contributing to making Ho Chi Minh City a dynamic, creative, and internationally integrated economic - scientific - technological centre. On that basis, the university's development goals are defined:
- Building and developing Thu Dau Mot University must be associated with improving the quality of human resource training in a modern direction, approaching advanced higher education in the region and the world; training must be closely linked with scientific research, technology transfer, innovation, and according to labour market needs, directly serving the socio-economic development of Binh Duong province (now HCMC), promptly meeting the human resource needs of the region, the country, and internationally.
- Developing Thu Dau Mot University into a smart, multi-disciplinary, multi-field university, becoming a major centre for high-quality human resource training, scientific research, technology transfer, and innovation for Binh Duong province (now HCMC), the region, and the country, meeting the requirements of renewing the growth model, shifting the economic structure, and labour structure in the new period.
- Building and developing Thu Dau Mot University must be based on promoting and taking advantage of the existing resources of the University to the maximum and most effective extent. Mobilising maximum resources from outside the University, wherein internal human resources are important, fundamental, and decisive, while external human resources are necessary, regular, and breakthrough.
- Enhancing autonomy and social accountability; cooperating effectively with stakeholders in training, scientific research, and technology transfer.
Based on these strategic goals, in the period 2025 – 2030, the university implements a strategy of restructuring, upgrading to a two-tier, multi-disciplinary, multi-field university, aiming for sustainable development. The two-tier university model helps Thu Dau Mot University fully realise its educational and scientific-technological mission, while strengthening its strategic role in the educational-scientific ecosystem of Ho Chi Minh City, providing high-quality human resources and scientific-technological products, serving the socio-economic development and international integration of the city, the Southeast region, and the whole country. Simultaneously, Thu Dau Mot University aims to become a smart, happy university with prestige domestically and internationally, with the goal of being ranked in the TOP 1000 most influential universities worldwide for education quality according to THE Impact Ranking, contributing to affirming its position in the region and enhancing the international stature of Ho Chi Minh City.