Standardization for quality improvement

GD&TĐ - The Ministry of Education and Training's announcement of the draft Circular regulating the determination of enrollment numbers and its call for public opinion is a necessary and timely step in the process of perfecting the institutional framework for higher education and vocational education.

The draft Circular is based on the implementation of the amended Higher Education Law of 2025, clearly demonstrating a shift from managing enrollment based on scale to managing based on training capacity and actual quality. A notable point of the draft Circular is its systematic, consistent approach that places training quality at the center. Criteria regarding area, facilities, and faculty are standardized and closely linked to determining enrollment numbers. Through this, the draft creates a clear legal framework for training institutions to self-assess, adjust, and improve their internal capacity.

First and foremost, the regulation specifying the number of students to be enrolled at each training location is a significant step forward in quality management. Separating enrollment quotas for the main campus and each branch campus accurately reflects the quality assurance capacity at each location, overcoming the problem of concentrating quotas at a single facility that does not meet the requirements. This approach not only increases transparency but also facilitates more effective inspection and monitoring of training quality.

Furthermore, the addition and clarification of regulations regarding full-time lecturers demonstrate the Ministry of Education and Training 's efforts to flexibly utilize social resources while still ensuring quality standards. With a participation coefficient equal to half that of full-time lecturers of the same qualifications, along with specific requirements regarding contracts, commitment periods, and number limits, the draft has designed a mechanism that is both open and strict. This contributes to preventing duplication of resources and ensuring lecturers' genuine participation in training activities.

Another highlight is the unification of enrollment quota criteria with the Circular promulgating the Standards for Higher Education Institutions. Using lecturers with doctoral degrees as the conversion standard sends a clear message about the direction of improving the quality of the teaching staff. Along with that, the criterion of a minimum floor area of ​​2.8 m²/student (converted), accompanied by a transition roadmap, demonstrates a harmonious combination of standardization requirements and feasibility in implementation.

Notably, the draft regulations link the increase in enrollment numbers to indicators of output quality. The regulation prohibits increasing enrollment quotas for majors or groups of majors with a first-year dropout rate exceeding 15% or a low graduate employment rate demonstrates a strong shift from formal management to effective training management. This forces educational institutions to directly assess the actual quality of the teaching and learning process, as well as their responsibility to students and society.

Along with tightening quality assurance conditions, the draft still leaves room for flexibility for training institutions in organizing admissions. Allowing the actual number of students admitted to exceed the announced number by no more than 5% for undergraduate programs and no more than 20% for master's and doctoral programs, provided that training capacity is still ensured, demonstrates a flexible yet controlled management approach. This is a necessary balance between the requirement for discipline and the practical operation of admissions.

Overall, the draft Circular is not just a technical document on determining enrollment numbers, but also a consistent policy message: Enrollment must go hand in hand with quality, scale must be commensurate with capacity, and autonomy must be linked to accountability.

In the context of higher education facing the need for strong innovation, the draft Circular is an important step in concretizing the provisions of the law, creating a foundation for improving the quality of training, better meeting the requirements of human resource development and the expectations of society.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/chuan-hoa-de-nang-chat-post767179.html