On the morning of May 14, at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) held a policy consultation seminar on the development of the Law on Higher Education (amended).
Mr. Bui Xuan Hai, Principal of Hai Phong University, said that there is currently almost no two-level university model in the world, meaning there are no "univesities in universities".
In Vietnam, in 1995-1996, the national university model was born. Some units have admitted many member schools and established many faculties.
In recent years, these faculties have become member schools. There are small member schools, with a scale of only about 100 teachers and a few thousand students.
This makes it impossible for member schools to develop, and at the same time fall into the situation of "one side, two sides", both under the management of universities and state management agencies. This is contrary to the principle of university autonomy.
"When we spoke to some foreign experts, we did not know how to explain the "University in university" model that is currently in place in the country" - Mr. Hai raised the issue.
Sharing the same view, Mr. Vu Hoang Linh, Chairman of the Council of the University of Natural Sciences, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, said that the two-level university model is stuck and needs to be reviewed.
From the perspective of a professional, Mr. Linh said that the most difficult thing for the university model is not management, but when working with foreign partners.
"They came to me to introduce me as a university, and above me, there is another university. Overseas students do not understand how Vietnamese higher education is when there are universities in universities. We have to explain university above as an umbrella" - Mr. Vu Hoang Linh shared.
In the draft report on the impact of the Law on Higher Education, the Ministry of Education and Training also acknowledged that this causes difficulties, complexity and risks in organization and management, especially when implementing the autonomy mechanism.
Regarding this, Mr. Bui Xuan Hai said that if member universities have been identified, let them be autonomous like other independent universities, without needing the "top umbrella" (upper-level university) as at present.
The President of Hai Phong University also said that schools should only be developed in universities, according to the international name "school", not for member universities to have legal status in universities.
"We should eliminate national universities and regional universities, we should develop the merger of small universities into national universities and regional universities to be worthy" - Mr. Hai said and affirmed that if we maintain universities that are too small, we will eliminate the potential for investment in development in staff and finance.
Regarding Mr. Hai's opinion, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son said that the two-level university model has been discussed a lot.
However, the Deputy Minister affirmed that this is not a matter of abandoning national and regional universities. These units are managed by the state, have their own missions and positions.
"Here, we are talking about internal governance, not the issue of abolishing national and regional universities. We must see how to improve that model" - Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son said.
According to the 2018 Law on Higher Education, the concept of university and university is different. Universities and academies are training and research institutions for many fields. Universities train and research in many fields, including universities and member faculties.
Vietnam currently has 10 universities. In addition to the 5 national and regional universities, there are Hanoi University of Science and Technology, National Economics University, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, Duy Tan University and Phenikaa University. These universities have schools and affiliated faculties, not member universities.
