At the Higher Education Conference held on the morning of September 18, Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that Resolution 71 of the Politburo determined the focus on higher education, in which the most important task is to modernize universities. The goal is to develop universities at a fast, strong pace, with a clearer orientation, creating a source of high-quality human resources, especially in the fields that the country needs.

Mr. Son acknowledged that higher education is facing development opportunities. “Opportunities that Eastern people often use the word ‘time’. This is the opportunity, the time, the moment for higher education to break through and develop. If we do not grasp this opportunity, not only will we not be able to develop, but we will also be at fault.”

According to him, universities are currently facing many changes, even the heads of the institutions may be confused, such as the abolition of the university council, the Party Secretary will also be the head, the arrangement and merger of schools, university autonomy, innovation in the way of examining and appointing professors and associate professors...

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Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son speaks at the 2025 Higher Education Conference.

Mr. Son said that the education sector is preparing to face a "major rearrangement" of higher education institutions.

Resolution 71 of the Politburo requires urgent arrangement and restructuring of universities; merging and dissolving substandard schools; eliminating intermediate levels; studying the merger of research institutes with universities; and transferring some schools to local management.

Except for police, military and non-public schools, Mr. Son said he will rearrange about 140 public schools scattered among central and local ministries and branches.

“The spirit will have to reduce a lot of contacts,” Mr. Son said, adding that the Ministry is considering many options. “It is possible to transfer schools under the central sector, managed by ministries and branches, to local areas. It is possible to merge local schools into central schools. Or schools under ministries and branches can merge together, many local schools can merge together... Some schools will be dissolved if they are too small in scale and do not meet standards,” Mr. Son said.

According to Mr. Son, the arrangement, especially with schools that are "close together" in different fields, aims to overcome the fragmented, small-scale, and undeveloped situation.

“The Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education and Training will develop a plan to report to the Prime Minister, then implement it. For schools that have to merge, the Ministry will discuss with school leaders, but this is basically an order, similar to the recent merger of provinces and cities,” said Mr. Son.

Mr. Son said that the Ministry of Education and Training must also consider restructuring options and reduce the number of focal points so that schools can become stronger and better, not just to reduce the number of focal points. "Even though there are schools that are not that big, in terms of geopolitics, the necessary position will still be retained, and at the same time, they must develop as quickly as possible," Mr. Son said, affirming that the Ministry will have a scenario for each school with the best plan.

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.

On the side of the Ministry of Education and Training, Mr. Son said that he will reduce the content he is holding, decentralize, delegate more authority and power in the direction of "firmly grasping what needs to be grasped and decisively letting go of what must be let go", so that units can be more autonomous.

Accordingly, the Ministry is only in charge of licensing, revoking licenses, closing, dissolving universities; appointing, dismissing, transferring, and reassigning heads. For public schools, the Ministry in charge will approve strategies, goals, and missions, and will not let "schools do whatever they want", because public schools are established to carry out public missions.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/bo-truong-gd-dt-noi-ve-cuoc-dai-sap-xep-cac-truong-dai-hoc-2443995.html