VietNamNet Bridge - A report by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) about the status of non-state universities is nothing new, but the schools complain they are at a disadvantage compared with state-owned schools.

A comprehensive survey of 59 of 60 non-state schools was carried out for the first time by MOET. The schools account for 25.5 percent of total 235 universities and academies in Vietnam. 

Non-state schools’ reports in 2016 showed that they had 20,500 lecturers, 71 percent of whom were permanent, while the others were visiting lecturers. At the Bac Ha International University, the number of visiting lecturers was higher than permanent le turers (49 vs 48).

The number of lecturers with professor/associate professor titles accounted for 5 percent of total lecturers of non-state schools. 

Meanwhile, 29 percent of permanent lecturers had only a bachelor’s degree and the figure was 19 percent for visiting lecturers.

The majority of lecturers at the schools had a master’s degree, while fewer than 20 percent of lecturers were PhDs.

Poor material facilities are the biggest problem for non-state schools. Twenty- four schools, or 54.5 percent of the schools which provided information, operate on their own land, while 12 schools, or 27.3 percent, have to rent their campuses

Five out of the 12 schools, or 42 percent, were schools operating for more than 20 years. And, 16 out of 24 schools, or 67 percent with campuses built on their own land were established in the last 10 years.

Regarding financial capability, in 2016, about 77 percent (33/43) of schools had revenue higher than expenses and 13 had revenue lower than expenses.

“The schools which have don't have enough revenue to cover expenses are the ones which are undergoing restructuring, or the ones with investors with limited financial capability,” the report reads.

Besides the Hung Vuong University in HCMC which doesn’t have students, and the Ha Hoa Tien University which has few students, as it has stopped enrollment, the other 58 schools all have students.

A Chau University of Industrial Arts has the fewest students (135), while the HCMC University of Technology has the highest number of students (24,932).

An analyst commented that it is known that many non-state schools operate ineffectively, but it is not clear if MOET is brave enough to eliminate the schools.

Non-state schools keep complaining about unfair treatment. While they have to pay VND1 trillion in tax every year and have to ‘stand on their feet’, state-owned schools can receive big support from the state, from land to finance.

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