Promoting digital transformation in higher education
The Law on Higher Education (amended) was passed by the National Assembly on December 10. This is a replacement for Law 34/2018/QH14 dated November 19, 2018 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Higher Education.
In addition to breakthroughs such as: Unifying regulations on specialized postgraduate training in the health sector; Maintaining regional universities, improving internal governance efficiency... another important new point is to promote digital transformation in higher education.
The Law on Higher Education (amended) stipulates that higher education institutions proactively apply digital technology, artificial intelligence, and other advanced technologies with control in the management and organization of higher education activities. Higher education institutions are also cooperating with businesses, research institutes, and other educational institutions to organize training and development in digital capacity, artificial intelligence, and advanced technology for lecturers, managers, and learners.
In addition, the application of technology in higher education meets the following requirements:
Comply with legal regulations on science, technology and innovation, personal data protection, network security and principles of technological ethics;
Ensuring the quality of training and research;
Implement technical and administrative measures; ensure information security and data security;
Ensure equal access for learners to infrastructure, platforms and digital resources;
Ensure transparency and explanation of technology solutions when affecting management, governance or academic decisions;
Improving digital capacity standards, the ability to apply artificial intelligence of lecturers, managers and learners;
Ensure intellectual property rights and legitimate interests of higher education institutions and related individuals.
Higher education is the core in developing highly qualified human resources
Regarding the State's policies on developing higher education, the Law stipulates that the State identifies higher education as the core in developing highly qualified human resources, fostering talents, promoting scientific, technological and innovative activities; developing a modern, quality, flexible and interconnective higher education system, meeting the requirements of socio-economic development, ensuring national defense, security, international integration and sustainable development of the country.
The State plays a leading role in supporting funding for public higher education institutions to train a number of sectors and fields to reach regional and international standards; partially supporting funding for public higher education institutions to upgrade standards; implementing policies to support private higher education institutions to develop sustainably, improve competitiveness; creating a mechanism to attract and mobilize social resources to modernize higher education; ensuring full and comprehensive autonomy for higher education institutions regardless of the level of financial autonomy.
The State invests in modernizing technical infrastructure; upgrading facilities, laboratories, excellent training and research centers, key higher education institutions, and teacher training institutions.
At the same time, priority is given to ordering and assigning training tasks for basic science, key engineering, and strategic technology; ensuring funding for research, knowledge transfer, innovation associated with postgraduate training, and startups.
The State has policies to train, foster, and support lecturers to improve their professional qualifications, digital and foreign language skills; promote and attract talented scientists and excellent lecturers at home and abroad.
The State implements financial policies, scholarships, tuition fees, preferential credit and other forms of support for learners; prioritizes policy beneficiaries, beneficiaries in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions, ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, islands, vulnerable groups, and postgraduate learners.
The State has policies to promote public-private cooperation, support the effective implementation of cooperation between the State, schools, and businesses; international integration, attracting domestic and foreign resources to enhance the position of Vietnamese higher education.
The Law on Higher Education (amended) takes effect from January 1, 2026.
