Ensuring quality when upgrading universities

In November 2024, Duy Tan University and National Economics University officially decided to become universities, increasing the total number of universities in Vietnam from 7 to 9. The challenge for universities in particular and the Vietnamese university education system in general is the issue of quality.

Duy Tan University students. Photo: NTCC.

2 universities upgraded

On November 15, 2024, on behalf of the Prime Minister , Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long signed Decision No. 1386 on converting the National Economics University into the National Economics University. Previously, the National Economics University Council passed a Resolution to establish 3 schools: School of Economics and Public Management, School of Business and School of Technology. This is the first step for the school to restructure and is expected to become the National Economics University. The National Economics University currently has about 28,000 full-time students, nearly 1,100 staff and lecturers, and 87 university-level training programs, of which 25 training programs are taught and studied in English.

Also in November, Duy Tan University became the first private university to switch to the university model in our country. Currently, Duy Tan University offers 10 PhD majors, 16 Master's majors and 52 undergraduate majors with more than 100 majors; 13 advanced programs transferred from prestigious US universities, talent programs, on-site study abroad programs, university degrees granted by US universities; organizes joint training programs and 7 distance learning majors. The university has 5 training facilities with 254 practice rooms, laboratories, a medical simulation room system, a library system, a modern data center along with more than 800 computers for students to practice and many other modern equipment.

In addition to the two newly converted universities, a series of universities among the 267 university training institutions nationwide are also preparing conditions to convert into universities in the near future, such as Hanoi University of Industry, Hanoi Medical University, Can Tho University, Hanoi University, etc.

Encourage university affiliation

According to Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son, in the context of the university education system still having many small-scale, single-disciplinary training schools, it is necessary to encourage schools to join forces to form universities. The association will help reduce the number of contacts, focus on finding suitable management teams; avoid the situation where some schools have the same goals and missions but compete with each other unnecessarily. However, this association must be based on voluntariness instead of mechanics. How the association is done and whether the association is really effective must also be carefully assessed by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Prof. Dr. Lam Quang Thiep - former Director of the Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Education and Training) said that the desire of schools to switch to multi-disciplinary goals is in line with the current development orientation. However, to bring about real effectiveness instead of just being in the name, there needs to be synchronous solutions. In the past, there were still cases when transferring from a university to a university but the operation was not in accordance with the multi-disciplinary nature. The reason is that the merger was only mechanical, the connection between member schools was very loose, and they were completely independent in training.

"When converting from a university to a college, it is necessary to carefully assess before recognition as well as control the quality of educational institutions after conversion so that it is not just a formality" - Professor, Dr. Lam Quang Thiep emphasized.

Raising the level of universities is not only about the name but also about the quality, which is what the Party, the State and the people expect for universities in particular and the university education system in our country in general. The program for developing a system to ensure the quality of university education is setting a target that by 2025, 100% of universities will complete the internal quality assurance system, 35% of training programs will be accredited. By 2030, it will increase to 80% of training programs will be accredited. This is a big challenge but it is necessary to achieve in order to improve the quality regularly, build the brand for the school, thereby bringing value to learners.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Duc (Hanoi National University) proposed an innovative smart university model to meet the requirements of the 4.0 industrial revolution. According to this model, while implementing the National Qualifications Framework, developing new training programs associated with the 4.0 industrial revolution, and entrepreneurship-oriented training, it is necessary to immediately promote activities to adjust output standards and update new courses in accordance with the output standards of traditional training programs.

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At the ceremony announcing the transformation into Duy Tan University, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son hoped that this change would not be a change of name, but a change towards depth, towards unleashing creativity, towards modern and intelligent management. He hoped that the University would be operated with a more scientific and advanced university management apparatus. It would have both a larger scale and a higher mission with a long-term vision, towards sustainable development.
The Minister believes that the development opportunities of the country are also opportunities for universities. It is necessary to seize the opportunity, accelerate the speed of development and the quality of development. Especially aiming at new fields of science and technology, cutting-edge technology, industries that the country needs both in the short term and in the long term, including industries that require a lot of investment but take a long time to achieve results.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/dam-bao-chat-luong-khi-nang-tam-dai-hoc-10294924.html