On October 22, the National Assembly held group discussions on three draft laws: the amended Law on Education, the amended Law on Higher Education, and the amended Law on Vocational Education.

Speaking at the session with deputies from Thanh Hoa and Tay Ninh provinces, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung emphasized that education and training are receiving strong attention from the Party and the State.

Resolution No. 71, issued on August 22 by the Politburo, outlines a roadmap for breakthroughs in education and training. General Secretary To Lam and the Politburo have endorsed crucial policies such as tuition waivers, universalizing upper secondary education, subsidized lunches, and especially, the investment in building 248 integrated schools in remote border communes.

The Minister said the three draft laws have largely incorporated the spirit and content of Resolution 71 and other central policies.

Beyond codifying existing directives, the drafts also concretize strategic perspectives and breakthrough solutions through 2035, aiming for the broader goal of cultivating a high-quality, globally competitive workforce.

He expressed strong support for the revisions, stating they could unlock transformative progress in education and training, consistent with the resolution’s vision.

Reform must respect the distinct nature of autonomy in education

Regarding the amended Law on Higher Education, Minister Dung pointed out a current issue of “uniformed autonomy,” where different types of educational institutions are treated similarly, even though autonomy in general education, vocational training, and higher education varies greatly.

For universities, he said, autonomy is the most critical lever for development. Any university seeking rapid progress must ensure full autonomy across academic affairs, curriculum development, student admissions, qualifications, and tuition management.

He highlighted international models where universities function as research and technology hubs and fall into three categories: elite innovation institutions, application-focused schools, and practice-based colleges.

In Vietnam, higher education remains overly focused on theoretical instruction and lacks strength in research and practical application.

The Minister proposed that autonomy provisions be clarified in the revised law. Universities that are financially autonomous should also have the authority over human resources, and state management responsibilities for different educational levels should be delegated to local governments.

Restructuring school governance and vocational education systems

He supported a key point in the draft that proposes abolishing university councils in public higher education institutions, arguing that this would ensure unified management and resolve ongoing conflicts between public school councils and executive boards.

Minister Dung said public institutions are already governed by a structure where the Party leads, the administration manages, and unions participate. The presence of a university council often creates overlap and inefficiency.

He therefore recommended the complete removal of university and college councils in public institutions “as soon as possible.” However, he argued that councils should remain in private universities, where investment comes from private entities, making the governance model essential.

On vocational education, the Minister explained that the system includes three levels: college, intermediate, and elementary. The current draft law eliminates elementary-level training, a move he questioned based on practical labor needs.

Having previously served as Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, he pointed out that although 70% of Vietnam's workforce is considered trained, only 29% actually possess certificates or degrees ranging from elementary to university level.

He raised concerns that eliminating the elementary level would disregard the needs of many workers in industrial zones, most of whom are trained at this basic level.

He warned that this move could effectively marginalize the role of businesses in vocational training, even though the Labor Code mandates that companies are responsible for training and upskilling their workforce.

The Minister recommended that vocational schools be allowed to offer multi-sector, multi-disciplinary, and multi-level training – including college, intermediate, elementary levels, and even inter-level bridging programs.

He noted that some sectors, such as culture and arts, are currently excluded from such diversified training.

The draft also introduces a “vocational secondary school” model, allowing students to study both general education and vocational skills after completing lower secondary school.

Minister Dung noted that more than 600 intermediate schools are already combining both streams. However, he cautioned that classifying vocational secondary schools as equivalent to upper secondary schools is problematic, because the core mission of vocational institutions is technical training, not academic learning.

Focusing on practical skills and employment for disadvantaged youth

He added that vocational learners are mostly from disadvantaged backgrounds or students who do not have the ability or desire to pursue academic pathways.

Their primary goal is to acquire employable skills and support themselves and their families. An estimated 500,000 students each year do not advance to higher education, making them the primary target group for vocational training.

“The state must play a leading role in ensuring access to vocational training. Every enterprise should be a vocational school, and every vocational school should be linked to an enterprise,” he said.

Minister Dung cited Germany’s dual training model as an example, where students sign contracts with businesses from the outset. During training, they are placed in paid apprenticeships at companies to ensure job readiness upon graduation.

Restructuring education governance for greater autonomy

Regarding the general education law, Minister Dung suggested that both general and vocational schools should no longer be centrally managed by a parent organization if autonomy is to be achieved. Instead, they should be handed over to local governments, with the Ministry of Education and Training responsible for state-level oversight.

For specialized fields like national defense, public security, and ethnic and religious education, he proposed that the respective ministers should be authorized to establish, merge, dissolve, and directly manage these schools.

Tran Thuong