What criteria do universities need to meet to face the risk of merger and dissolution?

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, about 140 public universities are preparing to face a major restructuring and merger.

At the recent 2025 Higher Education Conference, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son emphasized the policy of rearranging educational institutions in the coming time.

Except for police, military and private schools, the Minister of Education and Training said that about 140 public schools will be rearranged. The Minister of Education and Training is considering many options, such as transferring central schools, schools managed by ministries and branches to local areas; merging local schools with central schools, schools under ministries/branches with each other. Some schools will be dissolved if they are too small and do not meet standards.

Regarding university standards, the Ministry of Education and Training has issued Circular No. 01/2024, regulating university standards.

Accordingly, there are 6 standards to ensure the quality and operation of a university, including: organization and administration, lecturers, teaching and learning conditions, finance, enrollment and training, research and innovation.

Regarding organization and administration, key positions such as university principal or director, and school board chairman must not be vacant for more than 6 months at the same time; at least 50% of performance indicators must be achieved annually according to the school's strategy; data must be connected and updated on the Ministry's system (HEMIS).

Regarding the teaching staff, the student-to-full-time lecturer ratio needs to be 40 or less; the proportion of permanent lecturers must account for at least 70% of the total. The group of lecturers with doctoral degrees must reach 20-40% or more, and from 2030 it will be 50%.

The infrastructure standards include indicators on land area, information systems and learning materials. Accordingly, universities must ensure that by 2030, the average land area per full-time student is at least 25 m2. The floor area per student is not less than 2.8 m2 and at least 70% of lecturers are arranged separate working places.

The standards for higher education institutions include 6 standards with 20 specific criteria as follows:

Notably, regarding enrollment and training content , the Ministry of Education and Training requires that the enrollment rate above the target must not be lower than 50%; the training scale must not decrease by more than 30% in the last three years.

The annual dropout rate of students is not higher than 10%, and the first year is not higher than 15%. 40% or more of students graduate on time, the rate of students having a job suitable to their major within 12 months after graduation is not lower than 70%...

Regarding research and innovation , higher education institutions must demonstrate this capacity through revenue and scientific publication results. Specifically, the proportion of revenue from scientific and technological activities to the total revenue of schools (with doctoral training), on average in the last 3 years, is not lower than 5%. On average, a full-time lecturer achieves at least 0.3 - 0.6 scientific and technological articles per year.

The Ministry of Home Affairs recently issued an official dispatch requesting localities to propose arrangements and adjustments to public high schools, middle schools, primary schools, inter-level schools, and kindergartens if necessary.

Merge vocational education centers and continuing education centers into high schools equivalent to high schools under the Department of Education and Training to provide public career services in inter-ward and communal areas.

According to the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs, each province or centrally-run city shall have no more than 3 vocational schools (not including schools that are self-sufficient in regular expenditure or more).

Kim Anh

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/cac-truong-dai-hoc-can-dat-tieu-chi-gi-truoc-nguy-co-sap-nhap-giai-the-ar967128.html