Minister of Education and Training: Pedagogical colleges will merge into pedagogical universities

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that in the planning of universities and colleges, the system of pedagogical colleges will soon have only 3-4 schools, and the trend is for pedagogical colleges to merge into pedagogical universities.

On the morning of December 4, the National Assembly Standing Committee discussed draft laws related to the education and training sector.

One of the notable new points of the draft Law on Vocational Education is to allow qualified higher education institutions to register for college training in a number of professions and must comply with Government regulations.

Speaking to explain this issue, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that in the planning of universities and colleges, the system of pedagogical colleges will soon have only 3-4 schools, the trend is that pedagogical colleges will merge into pedagogical universities. In pedagogical universities, there will be training for preschool teachers at college level.

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son gives an explanatory speech. Photo: National Assembly

"Regarding the fact that universities can provide college-level training in a number of specialized, specialized, specialized, and special fields according to the country's human resource needs, in my opinion, we need to include a principle in the law that universities can be allowed to organize college-level training," the Minister said.

However, the Minister of Education and Training also stated that there needs to be a separate regulation on how to train and what are the requirements to avoid universities "massively enrolling college-level students" which would disable and reduce the college's enrollment capacity. The law cannot be too detailed.

Therefore, he proposed that the law define a principle that "it can be opened", "who can be opened and how it can be opened will be decided by the Government".

Should regional universities be kept or abolished?

The draft Law on Higher Education defines higher education institutions as universities, multidisciplinary universities, national universities, and regional universities. During the discussion session of the National Assembly and the National Assembly Standing Committee, many delegates expressed their opinions on whether to keep or abolish the regional university model.

Standing Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Do Van Chien said that the establishment and organization of regional university models is a correct policy, however, there are still shortcomings in the implementation process.

“Currently, we are implementing strong decentralization and delegation of power, but regional universities cannot meet this requirement,” he said, suggesting a truly objective assessment of the regional university model.

Standing Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Do Van Chien speaks. Photo: National Assembly

Formerly the Secretary of Thai Nguyen Provincial Party Committee, citing his close monitoring of Thai Nguyen University, Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Thanh Hai said that with its large training scale, the school has trained many cadres, leaders and large human resources.

"It is thanks to the regional university that we were able to attract Samsung Group to work for us when they were interested in human resources," Ms. Hai said that Thai Nguyen University trains human resources for the midland and mountainous regions of the North.

She suggested that the Government carefully and cautiously evaluate whether to keep or abolish regional universities. A thorough analysis is needed because this content is of interest to many National Assembly deputies and has received opinions.

"This model is unreasonable, ineffective, or we are not investing enough, not ensuring conditions to fully develop its capabilities," Ms. Hai questioned.

Chairman of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Thanh Hai speaks. Photo: National Assembly

Speaking afterward, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that in the report on acceptance and explanation, the issue of regional universities was mentioned 18 times. This is a major issue that many National Assembly delegates are interested in, mainly about Thai Nguyen University. According to the Minister, there are currently 3 regional universities in Thai Nguyen, Hue and Da Nang.

The Minister also said that in many reports of the Ministry of Education and Training over the years, the developments and contributions of regional universities have been evaluated. Of course, there are limitations and shortcomings, but the positive contributions are still a major factor.

According to Minister Nguyen Kim Son, Resolution 71 of the Politburo requires assessment and review of the intermediary stage. "This is a big issue that needs to be considered, it is not only the work of Thai Nguyen University or the regional university model in general," the Minister stated his opinion and said that there must be a more careful and detailed survey and assessment, from which there will be a better solution.

Regarding regional universities, the Minister stated that the decision to establish or dissolve them is under the authority of the Government, and the tendency is to let the ministry decide. Therefore, Mr. Nguyen Kim Son said that during the survey process, if there are any inadequacies, they can still be adjusted.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/bo-truong-gd-dt-cac-truong-cao-dang-su-pham-se-nhap-vao-dai-hoc-su-pham-2469352.html