How many public university boards will be eliminated?

In the coming time, at least 173 public universities will no longer have school boards. Schools are also facing a “major restructuring” and mergers with the spirit of greatly reducing the number of contacts.

The Ministry of Education and Training said that in 2024-2025, according to reports from ministries, branches and localities, there will be 173 public higher education institutions (excluding military and police institutions) that have established school councils; 1 institution that has not yet established a school council is Vietnam University of Oil and Gas.

Currently, all 41 higher education institutions under the Ministry of Education and Training have completed their school councils. For the 2024-2029 term, 6 units have established new school councils. These units have complied with the regulations in Resolution No. 19, according to which the Party Secretary concurrently holds the position of Chairman of the School Council (except Ho Chi Minh City Open University has not yet elected a Chairman of the School Council). For the 2025-2030 term, according to the initial plan, 21 units will establish new terms in 2025.

However, according to the Ministry of Education and Training, reality shows that the school council model in many public educational institutions has not yet promoted its real role. The activities of the school council in many public educational institutions are still formal, overlapping with the leadership role of the Party Committee and the Board of Directors, causing waste of resources and time.

The Ministry of Education and Training also recognized that the coordination between the Party Committee - School Council - Board of Directors in some units still lacks unity, showing signs of internal disunity.

Up to now, according to Resolution 71 of the Politburo on breakthrough in education and training development, there will be no school councils in public higher education institutions, and the Party Committee Secretary will also be the head of the educational institution.

Representatives of universities and academies attend the 2025 Higher Education Conference. Photo: Van Manh.

The Ministry of Education and Training also requested that affiliated universities and vocational training institutions, from September 12, 2025, temporarily suspend planning work with the Chairman of the school board and Vice Chairman of the school board (if any).

In addition, the planning and consideration of new appointments for the positions of director, deputy director, principal, and vice principal are suspended until new instructions are issued (not applicable to reappointments at the end of the term).

The school council, the chairman of the school council, and the vice chairman of the school council (if any) whose term expires shall continue to operate until new instructions are issued. In case the chairman of the school council expires, the vice chairman (if any) shall operate the school council, or the school council shall elect an operator if there is no vice chairman.

“At the recent Higher Education Conference, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that universities are facing many changes; even leaders of institutions may be confused by the removal of the university council, the Party Secretary who is also the head, along with the policy of arranging and merging universities...

Identifying this as a time for restructuring and breakthrough, Mr. Son said: “Teachers need to be ready for all possibilities, be happy in all situations, be fair and not ask the question 'where will I sit', that is an inappropriate attitude. We must determine that in the next 3 months, we must think together about how to develop the unit, take advantage of opportunities, prepare for future development, not look at each other. That is what I want to call on teachers at this very important moment,” Mr. Son said.

The university council is a part of the organizational structure of a higher education institution. It is an administrative organization that exercises the representative rights of the owners and interested parties. The university council of a private university or a private university operating not for profit is an administrative organization that represents investors and interested parties.

Currently, the country has 11 universities, 173 public universities and institutes; 67 private universities and foreign-invested institutions. Regarding the team of university management staff and lecturers in 2025, the administrative staff will be 35,999 people, and the permanent lecturers will be 82,451 people.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/bao-nhieu-hoi-dong-truong-dai-hoc-cong-lap-se-bi-xoa-bo-2448286.html