The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) several days ago held a policy consultation seminar on amending the Higher Education Law.

Bui Xuan Hai, President of Hai Phong University, proposed abolishing the national and regional university models. He believes that the abolishment would be a novel approach to the amended Higher Education Law.

The national university model was established in 1995-1996, designed with a different perspective than today. National universities incorporated multiple member schools and established numerous faculties. Over the years, these faculties gradually became schools, and member schools emerged. There are small member schools with just over 100 lecturers and a few thousand students.

“When I talk to foreign professors, they keep asking what our ‘national university’ and ‘university’ are, and how they differ. Is there any country in the world with such a two-tier university system like ours?” Hai said.

Regarding state management, Hai noted that the two-tier university model puts member universities in a “double bind”.

“National and regional universities are not state management agencies and have no function of state management. Yet, they govern member schools, which contradicts the principle of university autonomy,” Hai said.

“If member schools are recognized as higher education institutions, let them operate autonomously like other independent universities.”

Hai said bold reforms would allow member schools of national and regional universities to operate autonomously and grow.

“We cannot equate Vietnamese higher education institutions, which include a mix of national universities, regional universities, universities, colleges, and academies,” Hai said.

While supporting the development of the university model with internal schools, Hai suggested that member schools should not have legal entity status within the university.

“National and regional universities should be abolished; small schools under them should be developed and merged to match their stature,” Hai proposed.

Vu Hoang Linh, president of University of Natural Sciences under the Hanoi National University, noted that the two-tier university model faces challenges and needs review.

According to Linh, for those engaged in professional work, the biggest difficulty with the two-tier model is not management but explaining to foreign partners what a “university within a university” means.

“We introduce ourselves as a university, but above us, there’s another university. Foreign partners don’t understand how Vietnam’s higher education system has a ‘university within a university.’ We have to explain that the ‘upper university’ is like an umbrella, or similar to the University of California model in the US, but it’s not like that at all. I fully agree that the national and regional university model (two-tier system) has issues and needs review,” Linh said.

Thuy Nga