VietNamNet Bridge - More than 470 universities in Vietnam will be ranked once every two years under a plan outlined in a new government decree which takes effect on October 25.

Under the decree, higher education establishments will be classified into three groups, depending on whether the schools are oriented toward research, application, or practice.

They will also be ranked in class 1, class 2 and class 3 based on their achievements, with the best in class 1.

The first class will include 30 percent of the universities with the highest scores. The third class will comprise 30 percent of establishments with lowest scores, while the rest will be grouped in the second class.

The classification will be made once every 10 years, while the ranking will be made once every two years.

Universities will assess, rank and classify themselves based on the criteria to be set by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). 

The reports on the ranking and classification will be made public on their official websites.

MOET’s Deputy Minister Bui Van Ga said university ranking and classification is a necessity as it helps set clear purposes for university development.

At present, university training orientation is unclear. As a result, it is unclear which schools focus on research activities and which on applied sciences. 

Ga said this will allow the state to program human resource development in a reasonable way to serve the country’s socio-economic development.

An expert from Hanoi National University noted that the classification and ranking will help employers find suitable candidates, because it will be easier to find information about schools’ training quality and products.

However, the expert warned it would be very difficult to implement the classification.

“I am afraid schools will meet difficulties in classifying themselves because their research and practice activities are in a jumble,” he said.

The Hanoi National University, for example, has many member schools. The Hanoi University for Natural Sciences, one of the members, is a research-oriented school. Meanwhile, the University of Foreign Languages, another member, is a practice-oriented school. How will the Hanoi National University be classified?

Le Trong Thang from the Hanoi Mining and Geology University noted that the classification and ranking must be implemented by a prestigious independent organization rather than schools themselves.

“It will be a heavy workload to classify and accredit schools,” he said. Universities in Vietnam still cannot define their training orientations – either to focus on scientific research or practice. Most of them now carry out both activities.

NLD