Why do some universities enroll students en masse, exceeding their quota?

On the afternoon of June 19, continuing the 9th Session, the National Assembly conducted questions and answers on the fieldof education and training; focusing on solutions to improve the quality of university education associated with the requirement of creating high-quality human resources.

Clarifying the reasons for the gradual decrease in state budget spending on higher education

Opening the question-and-answer session, delegate Nguyen Truong Giang (Dak Nong delegation) presented the data: “According to report 179 of the Ministry of Education and Training , the budget expenditure for higher education in 2013 was 19,271 billion VND, equivalent to 0.43% of GDP and 9.3% of total budget expenditure for education and training. In 2022, it will decrease to 10,429 billion, accounting for 0.11% of GDP, 3.4% of total state budget expenditure for education and training.

The report clearly stated that the average ratio of expenditure on higher education to the education and training budget of middle-income countries is 18%, and high-income countries is 23%. Thus, after 10 years, the budget for higher education has decreased in both absolute and relative values, while the budget for education has remained relatively stable. What is the reason for the decrease and what recommendations does the Minister have?

Delegate Nguyen Truong Giang ( Dak Nong Delegation). (Photo: DUY LINH)

Responding to delegates, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son acknowledged that this is a reality. The budget for investment in higher education in the past 10 years has been adjusted and changed, in fact it has decreased.

The Minister explained that over the past 10 years, we have strongly implemented the trend of university autonomy. Schools have different levels of autonomy: some schools are partially autonomous in regular expenses, some schools are fully autonomous in regular expenses, and some schools are autonomous in both regular expenses and investment expenses.

The Minister said that every time a school is approved for autonomy, the financial sector cuts the regular expenditure support budget. Because of the cut in regular expenditure, over the past 10 years, the number of autonomous schools has increased, and the level of autonomy has increased, while the financial support from the State has gradually decreased.

“This is a reality that causes many difficulties for universities in developing the quality of education and training and developing their teaching staff,” said the Minister.

According to the Commander of the education sector, the shortcomings of autonomous schools have been recognized by the Party and the State, and in recent directives, the Ministry of Education and Training has been directed to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to consider adjusting financial factors in university autonomy, so that schools have a very high degree of autonomy, but still receive the State's main support for higher education.

Delegate Dao Chi Nghia (Can Tho Delegation). (Photo: DUY LINH)

Responding to the question of delegate Dao Chi Nghia (Can Tho delegation) about the Ministry of Education and Training's solutions in investing in facilities and human resources for higher education in key technology fields, Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that the ministry has proposed many solutions for training high-quality human resources. According to the Minister, this requires the participation of both public and non-public schools.

For public schools, the Ministry of Education and Training has advised the Government to issue a plan to develop and train human resources in the field of cutting-edge technology.

The solutions mentioned by the Minister include: developing universities, investing in equipment, attracting human resources, being proactive in international cooperation, and adjusting training programs.

According to the Minister, a comprehensive solution is needed to meet this goal. In particular, 13 universities have proactively developed programs and prepared staff to undertake training in cutting-edge technology industries, in order to serve the country's development in the coming period.

Why do universities enroll so many students and exceed their quotas?

Answering the question of delegate Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap delegation) about the number one university, especially non-public universities, enrolling students massively, exceeding the target, many graduates cannot find jobs, the causes and solutions in the future to improve the quality of university education and when graduates have stable jobs, the Minister raised the opposite question: "May I ask the delegate where this data is quoted from? Because when we give such data, we need to say who compiled the statistics, what is the source?".

Delegate Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap Delegation). (Photo: DUY LINH)

The Minister said that there are many types of non-public schools, some of which are in the world's Top 1,000, and some of which are small-scale schools that enroll students en masse.

"Therefore, I suggest that we need to clarify which schools have the most students and which schools have more students than they enroll. Last year, in carrying out our responsibility as State managers in this field, we also imposed administrative sanctions on a number of schools that had more students than they enrolled," the Minister replied.

According to the Minister, for current universities, the concept of quota is calculated according to the training capacity of that institution.

The Minister emphasized that of course we do not encourage schools to chase quantity. To ensure quality, or evaluate quality, and strengthen quality management for both public and private schools is a task that must definitely be done and promoted in the near future.

The Minister also stated that we need to create conditions for non-public schools to be equal and develop together. However, the quality requirements for both sectors must be equally strict and rigorous, ensuring that graduates can work best and have good jobs.

Also interested in this content, delegate Nguyen Danh Tu (Kien Giang) said that according to the report of the Minister of Education and Training, along with university autonomy and diversification in enrollment, many schools have increased their enrollment capacity to generate revenue from tuition fees (Report No. 719). This situation directly affects the quality of human resources, especially high-quality human resources.

Delegate Nguyen Danh Tu (Kien Giang). (Photo: DUY LINH)

Responding to this issue, Minister Nguyen Kim Son assessed that this is a real phenomenon at some universities. According to the Minister, one of the causes of the above phenomenon is related to the issue of tuition fees.

"Currently, in public universities in our country, the average tuition fee is about 25 million VND/year. Tuition fees may vary between some majors. Compared to the living standards of people, especially in disadvantaged areas, the above tuition fees are also very significant," said the Minister.

However, according to the Minister, our country's tuition fees are only about 1/50 of the average tuition fees at universities in the US.

With current tuition fees, to ensure the operation of a university, schools are forced to increase enrollment to compensate.

"For schools with very large enrollment, this is a real risk leading to consequences for training quality. In terms of management, the State needs to strictly control and ensure all factors related to training quality, forcing schools to comply with regulations on enrollment rates and training quality.

At the same time, the Minister said that we must also consider State support for public schools, and cannot just rely on tuition fees.

THU HANG

Source: https://nhandan.vn/vi-sao-mot-so-truong-dai-hoc-tuyen-sinh-o-at-vuot-chi-tieu-post888068.html