cross-spouse autonomy and conflicts in management
Commenting on the draft revised Law on Higher Education, there were opinions suggesting removing the model of national and regional universities.
In the draft report on the impact of the Law on Higher Education, the Ministry of Education and Training acknowledged that this causes difficulties, complexity and risks in organization and management, especially when implementing the autonomy mechanism.
Speaking to Lao Dong on June 9, National Assembly delegate Trinh Thi Tu Anh (Lam Dong delegation) said that the model of national universities and regional universities was established in the 1990s with the goal of building strong, multi-disciplinary higher education institutions, contributing to improving the quality of training and scientific research, while supporting the development of education in the regions.
However, after more than 30 years of operation, this model has revealed some shortcomings. Firstly, the two-level model is hindering university autonomy, causing member universities to be subject to dual management from both national/regional universities and state management agencies.
This reduces the flexibility, creativity and autonomy of member schools, especially in the context of the 2018 Law on Higher Education and recent amendments emphasizing the granting of stronger autonomy to educational institutions.
Second, the scale and efficiency are not optimal: Some member schools in national and regional universities are small in scale (about 100 lecturers, several thousand students), leading to difficulties in concentrating financial resources, human resources and facilities to develop into strong training and research centers.
"This reduces the effectiveness of the multi-disciplinary model, which was the initial goal when establishing national and regional universities," the delegate emphasized.
Third, regarding governance issues, the two-level model causes complexity and potential risks in organization and management, especially when implementing the autonomy mechanism. The existence of two councils (college council and member school council) with equivalent autonomy creates overlap and conflict in governance.
makes it difficult for both managers and learners
Speaking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Dr. Le Dong Phuong - former Director of the Center for Higher Education Research, Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences - said that in countries with developed education such as the US, a university (university) can have many affiliated units (college or school), but these units are academically independent, without separate legal status, without separate seals or degrees. The graduation certificate is issued by the university in charge and is responsible for the unification.
On the contrary, in Vietnam, some member schools and small-scale centers are still granted degrees and have their own stamps; while research centers or affiliated training units without the title "school" are not allowed to grant graduation certificates to students.
Dr. Le Dong Phuong also analyzed that the root cause of the problem lies in the overlapping two-level governance model. "We have a 2-storey management model, with the University Council and the University Council. In essence, this is a repetition of functions and tasks, causing the apparatus to be cumbersome and causing many problems" - he said.
If the school council has the function of deciding policies and orienting strategies for the school, member schools also have the right to make their own policies and strategies. "So when the strategy of a member school does not match the strategy of a student university, how to solve it? Controversy is understandable" - he cited.
In addition, although some member schools have their own school councils and a certain level of autonomy, they still have to work directly with the Ministry of Education and Training on enrollment quotas and some other management issues.
Dr. Le Dong Phuong assessed that the current model is both confusing in terms of operation and not really empowering clearly, creating a "half-powerful" attitude in autonomy, making it difficult for both managers and learners.
Dr. Le Viet Khuyen - Vice President of the Association of Vietnamese Universities and Colleges:
Multi-disciplinary universities must be given priority for autonomy. The granting of autonomy to universities must be carried out in parallel with the elimination of the quan ly agency mechanism. The university council must be a truly powerful organization.
The functions of management levels in a multi-disciplinary university must be clearly defined: University Council - policy making, University Director - policy proposal and direction, President of member schools - policy implementation, Head of Department - program implementation and team support, Lecturer - program implementation.
Most importantly, the Government needs to soon issue a new Decree for National and Regional Universities, which stipulates that these universities must change their structure in the direction of converting from the model of the confederation of specialized universities to the model of a genuine multi-disciplinary university, said Mr. Khuyen.
