This is the first case of a public university applying this mechanism according to Decree 235/2026/ND-CP dated June 26, 2026, effective July 1, 2026, on contracts for performing work in public non-business units.
The event immediately attracted public attention because of the phrase "hiring principals". And more notably, Decree 235 was not only issued specifically for the education sector.
This is a decree on performing work in public non-business units, allowing the signing of contracts for management positions with experts, scientists, business managers, typical entrepreneurs or people with high professional qualifications suitable to the development requirements of the unit.
In other words, the door to "renting managers" is open not only to universities but also to public hospitals, research institutes, scientific, cultural, artistic units and many other public service sectors.
For a long time, the selection of heads of public non-business units has mainly been associated with the appointment process. That mechanism has certain advantages in personnel organization, but it has also revealed limitations many times when management requirements are increasingly high, while the selection criteria have not always kept up with the development requirements of each unit.
A university that wants to elevate research needs people with academic vision and modern management skills.
A final-line hospital not only needs good doctors but also needs people to operate a system with thousands of employees, financial management, technology investment, service quality improvement and international cooperation.
A research institute that wants to create valuable scientific products also needs people with the ability to connect resources and lead the team.
But those requirements do not always meet each other, and may also be in an individual with a traditional selection mechanism.
Therefore, Decree 235 opens up a new approach for the management team of the public service sector when allowing the selection of the most suitable person to perform tasks, through contracts associated with responsibility and results.
Of course, the new mechanism is not the solution to all problems. A contract will not create innovation if the head does not have enough authority to perform the task, if the evaluation criteria are not transparent, or the selection is not yet truly based on capacity.
Therefore, the success of Decree 235 will not be measured by the number of units signing contracts with managers, but by whether public non-business units are actually operating more effectively, whether people enjoy better services and whether talented people have more opportunities to contribute to the public sector.
The fact that Hanoi National University is the first unit to apply the mechanism of signing contracts to perform the work of principals according to Decree 235 can be seen as the starting point of a new way of using people in the public sector.
If implemented transparently, choosing the right people and evaluating by work results, this mechanism will not only bring changes to a university, but can also open up opportunities for governance innovation in many hospitals, research institutes and other public non-business units.
