The National Assembly Standing Committee on December 4 discussed draft laws related to education and training. One notable point in the draft Law on Vocational Education is that qualified higher education institutions are allowed to register to provide training at the junior college level in certain majors, subject to government regulations.

Explaining this, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that under the junior college and university planning, pedagogical universities will admit pedagogical junior colleges. The universities will offer training of preschool teachers at junior college-level.

"Regarding the possibility for universities to train at the junior college level in certain specialized, in-depth fields, and special majors according to the country's human resource needs, we need to introduce a principle into the law that universities are permitted to organize junior college-level training," the Minister stated.

However, the Minister also clarified that separate regulations are necessary to govern how the training is conducted and what the requirements are, to prevent universities from "massively enrolling junior college-level students," which would neutralize and reduce the enrollment capacity of junior colleges. There is no need to regulate too much detail in the law.

Therefore, he proposed that the law should establish the principle that it "can be opened," while the specifics of who is permitted and how it is opened should be assigned to the Government in regulations.

Should the regional university model be abolished?

The draft Law on Higher Education introduces the concept of higher education institutions including universities, multi-disciplinary universities, national universities, and regional universities. During the discussion session of the National Assembly and the NA Standing Committee, the regional university model received significant attention from delegates on whether it should be kept or abolished.

NA Deputy Le Thi Thanh Lam, who supports abolishing the regional university model, said the model "becomes an intermediate level between MOET and the member universities, acting as both the governing body and an operational unit, which disperses the accountability mechanism and limits the autonomy of the member universities.”

Permanent Vice Chair of the National Assembly Do Van Chien said the policy of establishing and organizing the regional university model is correct, but there are still shortcomings in the implementation process.

“Currently we are implementing strong decentralization and devolution, but regional universities are not meeting the requirements,” he said, suggesting an objective evaluation of the regional university model.

Having served as Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee of Thai Nguyen, Chair of the Committee on Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Thanh Hai noted that with a broad training scale, Thai Nguyen University has produced many officials, leaders, and a large human resource pool.

“Thanks to the regional university we were able to attract Samsung to operate here because they were interested in the workforce,” Hai said, citing Thai Nguyen University’s role in training human resources for the midland and northern mountainous regions.

She urged the Government to carefully evaluate whether to keep or abolish regional universities, arguing the issue deserves thorough analysis because many National Assembly delegates are concerned.

“If the model is not reasonable or fails to be effective, is it because we did not invest enough or did not ensure conditions to fully realize its potential?” Hai asked.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son said the report of opinions and responses has mentioned regional universities 18 times. This is a major issue of interest to many delegates, mainly concerning Thai Nguyen University. 

According to the minister, there are currently three regional universities, in Thai Nguyen, Hue, and Da Nang. He noted that many reports from the Ministry of Education and Training over the years have also evaluated the development and contributions of regional universities. Despite limitations and shortcomings, their positive contributions remain significant.

Under Politburo Resolution 71, a careful evaluation of intermediate-level structures is required. “This is a major issue that needs review; it is not only about Thai Nguyen University or the regional model in general,” the minister said, and called for detailed, cautious surveys and evaluations to determine appropriate measures.

Decisions on establishing or dissolving regional universities fall under the Government’s authority, with a trend toward delegation to the relevant ministry. Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that during the survey process any identified shortcomings can still be adjusted.

Tran Thuong