According to him, the fundamental difference between the two approaches lies in the goals and operating methods. If "education management" mainly focuses on controlling processes, procedures, staffing, plans and records, then "education development management" is constructive thinking, taking human quality, school development capacity and social efficiency as the center.
Education management answers the question: How to make the system operate in accordance with procedures and regulations. Education development management must answer a higher question: How to make each school better; each teacher is best promoted; each student develops their abilities, qualities, creativity and ability to adapt to the future best" - Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc said and commented that this is a very important message, a strong change in both thinking and action.
At the general education level, schools not only complete the program and administrative requirements but also need to build a humane, safe, and liberating education environment; reduce achievement disease; strengthen self-learning ability, critical thinking, digital ability, foreign languages and life skills for students. For vocational education, development management requires training activities to be linked to the labor market, new technologies and business needs. Training quality needs to be assessed by job placement ability, professional capacity and adaptability of learners instead of just based on the number of enrollments.
Regarding higher education, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc affirmed that this transformation is of particularly profound significance because universities are places to train high-quality, highly qualified human resources and have the mission of leading innovation in the country's education system. Universities must shift from an administrative model to a self-reliant, innovative model, associated with accountability. Universities are not only places to grant degrees, but must be centers for training high-quality human resources, scientific research, innovation, creativity - knowledge transfer and development of high technologies, strategic technologies.
If the country wants to develop quickly, sustainably, self-reliantly, and self-strengthening, higher education must be strongly innovated, breakthrough and take a step ahead" - he said. He believes that if the spirit of Resolution 71-NQ/TW is properly implemented, Vietnamese education can shift from an operating model heavily focused on administrative orders to a development model based on vision, data, quality, autonomy, efficiency and responsibility. However, the biggest barrier currently does not lie in facilities or financial resources but in thinking and governance institutions. Many educational institutions are still familiar with operating according to targets, procedures and administrative reports. Therefore, the transformation process needs to start from thinking innovation, institutional innovation, policies, processes and quality assessment methods. According to Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc, to meet new requirements, the team of education management officials must be trained in strategic thinking, data-based management, quality management, digital transformation, application of artificial intelligence and capacity building. In particular, heads of educational institutions need to become leaders capable of creating a development environment instead of just performing administrative management functions.
