THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM IS NO LONGER RELEVANT
The policy of university arrangement is clearly shown in Plan No. 130 of the Steering Committee on summarizing the implementation of Resolution No. 18 of the Government . How does the Professor evaluate the above policy?
Prof. Dr. Bui Van Ga: First of all, it must be said that our university education system adapts and responds very quickly to the needs of training human resources in all stages of the country's development. Since the subsidy period, the university system has trained human resources to meet the needs of the planned economy . During the Renovation period, our universities have quickly updated the training program content to provide labor force for the socialist-oriented market economy. The university system has continuously expanded its scale to promptly meet the learning needs of the people. The types of universities are also diverse, with public and private universities.
The financial mechanism has also changed from the state paying all operating costs to the state being completely autonomous, not depending on state funding. On the other hand, when the scale expands, some universities become overloaded, the training quality is not guaranteed. Fully autonomous schools must calculate the source of revenue to ensure the coverage of school activities, so they must balance the scale and quality. In addition, state resources are limited, and investment must be spread out among many schools, so the facilities of the schools are very poor and outdated; the land area of many schools is narrow, not ensuring the pedagogical environment.
Entering the era of national development, the university system is no longer suitable. The country needs a new, high-quality workforce to take on the responsibility of helping the country escape the middle-income trap and become a sustainable high-income country. Therefore, the workforce needs to be trained in a new, progressive, and modern environment.
The restructuring and reorganization of the university education system is inevitable and very necessary. The integration of schools and institutes has been discussed a lot, but up to now, these two systems have not had close coordination, leading to waste of investment resources.
Professor, Doctor of Science Bui Van Ga
PHOTO: HA ANH
4 GROUPS OF HUMAN RESOURCE TRAINING SYSTEMS AFTER ROTATING
So, what criteria and principles should be followed in restructuring universities to not only mechanically reduce the number but also achieve the set goals, sir?
We have always debated whether universities should develop towards elite or mass. When the demand for learners increases, many new schools are formed, entering universities does not face many challenges, universities serve the learning needs of everyone, and naturally become mass universities. However, even if we expand enrollment quotas to meet the needs of learners, elite training cannot be overlooked. In developed countries, enrollment quotas are open to everyone, but key, highly prestigious schools are heavily invested by the state in many different forms. Candidates who want to enter these schools must pass rigorous exams or have outstanding talents.
In my opinion, this time when we reorganize the university system, we should have a different, more comprehensive approach, not only related to universities and colleges but also including the vocational education system, taking the National Qualifications Framework as the standard. It is possible to imagine that the human resource training system after the reorganization will have: (1) elite research universities, (2) national key universities, (3) applied universities, (4) schools training technicians and workers.
The elite research university group is a leading university group that focuses on scientific research and focuses on training human resources at level 7 and level 8, corresponding to the master's and doctoral degree system. The national key university group trains high-quality human resources at level 6 and above.
The State concentrates resources to invest maximum in these two groups of schools. These schools have the highest autonomy and their own admission methods, aiming to train talented elites, the general engineers who create the development of majors and fields for the country.
The group of applied universities focuses on training human resources at level 5 and level 6, including colleges and most of the small universities today. Graduates from these schools can receive a university degree, but the distinction between level 6 or level 5 depends on the training program and the output of the learner.
The last group includes all secondary schools and vocational schools that train technicians and workers.
In the digital age, the workforce trained in the third group of schools is the largest. Manual labor and simple operations of the workforce trained in the fourth group of schools will be gradually replaced by robots.
The pyramidal workforce model of the last century is being replaced by the "drum-shaped workforce" model of the digital age.
The workforce needs to be trained in a new, progressive, modern environment.
Photo: Dao Ngoc Thach
SPECIFIC SOLUTIONS
According to the plan, our country has about 140 public universities that are subject to merger. So, according to you, what is the appropriate implementation roadmap and what are the necessary conditions for implementation?
Once the principles have been agreed upon, the arrangement of our university-vocational education system will proceed quickly. There are two important things to determine to ensure that the arrangement of our human resource training system achieves the desired goals. The first is to determine the number 1 and number 2 school groups (elite research training schools and national key schools); the second is the investment resources and human resources to operate these schools. The number 3 and number 4 school groups can be arranged geographically or by industry group along with strengthening the control of training quality.
According to Notice No. 45-TB/TGV dated September 30, 2025 of the Working Group of the Central Steering Committee on Science, Technology, Innovation and Digital Transformation, 4 universities were selected for key investment as models for the university education system, including: Hanoi National University, Ho Chi Minh City National University, Danang University, Hanoi University of Science and Technology. The development goal of these universities is clearly defined as being in the Top 150 leading universities in Asia by 2030 and having at least 1 field ranked in the top 100 in the world according to the prestigious international university rankings.
Specific solutions were also identified, such as ensuring that at least 60% of training programs in the fields of science, engineering, and technology are taught in English, prioritizing joint training for dual degrees with universities in the world's Top 200; the proportion of postgraduate students accounts for at least 30% of the total number of students; 100% of doctoral students are exempted from tuition fees and are granted scholarships; and in the training program, doctoral students must spend at least 10 months on research exchange at the world's leading research institutes and universities... These universities belong to the group of elite universities for key research.
Similarly, the group of key national universities will also be established. These are the groups of universities that need the most concentrated investment and the most drastic innovation when arranging and restructuring the system. The arrangement of the remaining universities will not be too complicated and can take place quickly.
Local University Arrangements
After the arrangement, universities/colleges can be directly under the Ministry of Education and Training, central ministries, branches and some localities.
Currently, most of the (old) provinces have universities. However, investment resources are very limited, they cannot attract qualified lecturers, and recruitment is difficult, so many schools have difficulties in operation. In the past, when transportation was difficult, localities wanted to have universities so that their children could have access to higher education. Now that transportation is easier, students tend to go to big cities to study.
When transportation is convenient, local universities, especially those with limited investment potential, find it difficult to attract qualified lecturers. Therefore, only schools in large cities and economic centers of the region should be retained as core. Schools in neighboring localities can merge into core universities to become large universities. Thus, the number of school branches will be reduced, management efficiency will be improved and training quality will be enhanced.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/sap-xep-truong-dh-nen-theo-huong-nao-185251005174651964.htm
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