VietNamNet Bridge – Many universities in Vietnam do not have libraries. Others have libraries, but there, 21 students have to share one seat.

Students of Bac Ha Junior College, who study at the campus No 2 in Dong Ngac Commune in Tu Liem district in Hanoi are called the “students with many no’s”” no library, no textbooks. The students say that outside lectures, they just stay in rent rooms, because they do not have library to go to. This also means that they have to buy books themselves, because the school does not have textbooks compiled for many subjects.

Dao Thi Linh, a student of the Van Lang Junior College, said that her school only has two rooms which contain some 200 old books. “There are no textbooks for our subjects or reference books. Lecturers always tell us what books we have to buy. I don’t know when the school will have a library. The school has asked us to contribute books to the school’s library,” Linh said.

Other students in Hanoi, who come from the Hanoi Economics University and Polytechnique, and Dong Do people founded University, also said they never had their own libraries. “Even the campuses are rented,” they complained.

Nguyen Thi Chuyen, a student of Dong Do people founded University, said that the campus on Ton That Tung street is not the school’s main site, therefore, there is no library for students. In fact, there is a library on the main site at No 8 Nguyen Cong Hoan street, but it is useless, because only the students from one faculty can study there.

The campus of the Thang Long Transport Vocational School contains two rows of rooms with tens of classrooms. However, these are shared between different universities and junior colleges. Students have to go to classes in shifts: only when one school finish classes, students from other schools come..

“Our school even has to rent classrooms, so we don’t dream of libraries,” a student said.

The Hanoi University of Technology is considered the leading university in Vietnam. However, the big university only has one library with 770 seats, while it has more than 25,000 students.

“Many books are very expensive and students can’t afford them. Meanwhile, Polytechnique students cannot study without books,” said Do Van Dang, a fourth year student at the Hanoi University of Technology.
According to the Ministry of Education and Training, on average, there is only one seat for every 21.2 university students. Of the current 196 universities and junior colleges, 24 schools do not have normal libraries, while 119 schools do not have e-libraries.

“These are alarming figures for Vietnam’s university education. In other countries, universities always consider libraries as their soul or heart,” said Tran Duy Tao, Head of the Material Facilities Department under the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET).

Many universities do not have libraries, while many other universities have libraries, but the libraries do not meet the quality standards. Of the total 200 libraries surveyed by MOET, only 39 percent comply to the current standards, and only 34 percent use computer software for management.

Dr Tran Van Ba, Deputy President of the Hanoi University of Education, said that at university level, students need to spend much time on self-study, therefore, libraries are crucial.

“I cannot imagine the universities without libraries. Without libraries they are nothing more than ‘senior high school’,” he said (in Vietnam, the school system consists of primary, secondary and high school).

“I can say for sure that without libraries, universities will not be able to provide high quality training,” he added.

He went on to say that when MOET considers the application for establishing universities, it needs to find out if the schools have libraries and consider this a condition when deciding to license the schools.

Source: Tien phong