VietNamNet Bridge - Many students who do not pass the entrance exams to university can go to intermediate school (2-year training) and junior college (3-year training) first, and then pass the credits to enter university. 

A report of MOET inspectors shows that there are 18 universities which carry out cooperative training with other schools, while 15 in 18 schools have been violating the regulations.

In 2015, Can Tho Junior College announced that it has worked with many universities throughout the country, including the Hanoi University of Education, HCMC University of Education and the HCMC University of Sports Education, to provide joint training programs in 22 majors. 

Under the programs, students, after graduating from college, can pass credits to continue studying at one of these universities to obtain a bachelor’s degree.

However, inspectors found that the college’s facilities and teaching staff were only good enough to provide training in no more than 10 majors.

There are 18 universities which carry out cooperative training with other schools, while 15 in 18 schools have been violating the regulations.

The Hanoi Finance & Banking University every year trains thousands of students under joint training programs. 

Meanwhile, the head office of the school was just a leased room, while the lecturing staff and the facilities were insufficient to meet learning needs, especially practical subjects.

Le Viet Khuyen from the Vietnam Junior College & University Association attributed this to loosened management which schools exploited and created many joint training programs.

Khyen noted that MOET has not set up detailed regulations on the university education for joint training programs.  

The Decision 42 stipulates that schools can only cooperate with the training establishments which can satisfy the requirements for facilities, teaching and managerial staff. However, it does not clarify what ‘can satisfy’ means.

Under the current regulations, universities implement the enrollment process, from choosing and testing students to assessing them. 

“With the regulation, training establishments are given too much power and they can enroll students freely at their convenience.

MOET’s Deputy Minister Bui Van Ga admitted that many problems exist in cooperative training programs. 

Schools break regulations and try to enroll as many students as they want, while the management and supervision are loose. Therefore, the quality of joint training programs is questionable.

Ga affirmed that 2016 will be the year for MOET to focus on tightening control over cooperative training programs.

Nguyen Tien Luan, president of Nguyen Trai University, noted that the quality of joint training programs would improve if the users give feedback about training quality.

“In Vietnam, schools think they only have responsibility for training and no responsibility when students finish school. The feedback from labor users and learners should be seen as the most reliable information channel,” he said.


DDDN