Delegates worry about universities weakening after merger, propose abolishing regional universities

(Dan Tri) - "If there is a mechanical merger, developing universities may not be able to develop because they receive little attention and are no longer financially independent," delegate Nguyen Quang Huan worried.

Giving comments on the draft revised Law on Higher Education during the discussion session at the National Assembly hall on the morning of November 20, delegate Nguyen Quang Huan (HCMC) emphasized the spirit of Resolution 71 of the Politburo on education development.

That is to urgently build a strategic framework for higher education development, merge and dissolve substandard higher education institutions, eliminate intermediate levels, ensure streamlined and effective governance, and transfer some schools to local management to improve management efficiency and better meet human resource training requirements.

Meanwhile, the draft Law on Higher Education introduces the concept of higher education institutions including universities, multidisciplinary universities, national universities, and regional universities. In fact, according to Mr. Huan, the institutions merged into regional universities and national universities, which seemed very strong before, are no longer strong after the merger.

National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Quang Huan (Photo: Hong Phong).

“If we want to bring our universities into the top 100 in the world by mechanical merger, I think that is not necessarily a good way,” Mr. Huan said.

Instead, he believes that it is necessary to develop truly strong institutions, like Hanoi University of Science and Technology when it developed into a university, and within that university there were many sub-schools, which at that time still had internal strength.

“If we merge mechanically, developing facilities may not be able to develop because they receive little attention and are no longer financially independent,” Mr. Huan worries.

According to him, some universities were very strong before the merger, but after the merger they were not strong because their financial autonomy was limited and admission standards were lowered.

Because of that reality, delegate Huan proposed that the National Assembly consider whether or not to allow regional universities to exist.

“Currently, national universities and regional universities have the same structure. National universities can determine the brand of Vietnam, so we can temporarily consider it, but with regional universities, if we support the facilities and consider regional universities as facilities, it will not follow the spirit of Resolution 71,” Mr. Huan commented.

Discussion session on education content on the morning of November 20 (Photo: Hong Phong).

Delegate Le Thi Thanh Lam (Can Tho) also proposed to continue researching the regional university model because this is a content with many different opinions surrounding whether to abandon or reorganize this model to increase efficiency and reduce intermediaries.

She said there are currently three regional universities: Danang University, Thai Nguyen University and Hue University.

“Regional universities both perform the State management function delegated by the Ministry and directly organize training and research of faculties like universities. Therefore, this model becomes an intermediate level between the Ministry of Education and member schools, acting as both the owner and the public service unit, causing the responsibility mechanism to be dispersed and the autonomy of member schools to be limited,” the female delegate analyzed.

Recognizing that this is not in line with the spirit of Resolution No. 71 of the Central Committee with the requirement to reduce focal points, promote decentralization and eliminate intermediate levels, Ms. Lam proposed to remove the regional university regulations or restructure the regional university model in the system of higher education institutions.

Ms. Lam suggested that member universities in regional universities should be structured into multi-disciplinary, multi-field universities with many specialized schools. This could help each regional university have many independent universities that are strong enough, continue to receive investment to become strong and meet international standards.

National Assembly Delegate Le Thi Thanh Lam (Photo: Hong Phong).

These universities play a role in human resource training and research, under the Ministry or local authority according to decentralization, ensuring autonomy and self-responsibility.

“Our Party and State are implementing a policy of streamlining administrative organizations and public service units. Reviewing and rearranging the regional university model is necessary,” Ms. Lam emphasized.

According to the female delegate of Can Tho City, abolishing this model does not mean giving up on universities that play an important role in regional development, but rather eliminating the intermediate level, streamlining the apparatus and increasing the real autonomy of higher education institutions to develop stronger and stronger, more in line with the general development trend of universities.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/thoi-su/dai-bieu-lo-cac-truong-dai-hoc-yeu-di-sau-sap-nhap-de-xuat-bo-dai-hoc-vung-20251120090454396.htm