The introductions by schools to call on students to register to study show a colorful and bright picture of higher education.

Mai Van Trinh, director of the Quality Control Agency under MOET

However, higher education quality is problematic, said Mai Van Trinh, director of the Quality Control Agency under the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) at the recent online conference on university enrollment in 2019 and the amended Law on Higher Education, which took effect on July 1.

According to Trinh, training quality must meet the requirements of society. And the training quality can be seen in the proportion of graduates who can find jobs.

He said most universities now have quality assurance divisions, but their operation, vision and approach are different.

Schools facilitating the operation of the quality assurance system have better training quality, and their enrollment is more favorable.

To date, 251 out of 268 higher education establishments, including 218 universities and 33 junior colleges, have fulfilled self-assessment. Of these, only 121 education establishments meet standards. Meanwhile, twenty schools have not fulfilled the basic steps for accreditation.

Trinh said inspection of training programs shows a gloomier picture. Only 144 out of thousands of training programs can meet standards. Of these, 16 programs meet domestic standards, while the others meet international standards.

Trinh, while emphasizing that it is necessary to improve quality, said the internal quality assurance conditions must be improved including the management methods, managerial staff, teaching staff, facilities that serve training, and responsibility towards students.

Schools need to make public their quality assurance conditions and take responsibility about the published information.

Emphasizing the necessity of quality accreditation, he cited the amended Law on Higher Education as saying that if a training program is not assessed and accredited, or it is found not meeting standards after assessment, schools will have to stop the next process of enrollment.

According to Dan Tri, there are 236 higher education establishments with than 1.7 million university students, 106,500 postgraduates and 14,600 PhD students.

There are five education accreditation centers, belonging to the Hanoi National University, HCMC National University, the Vietnam Association of Universities and Junior Colleges, Da Nang University and Vinh University.

Nguyen Huy Bang, chief inspector of MOET, speaking to the local press in May, said MOET would pay high attention to higher education accreditation in the time to come and there will be more independent accreditation institutions.

Linh Ha 

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