More than 200 workers at Hanoi-based Bach Mai Hospital, the country’s leading hospital, have resigned from their posts. Some practitioners said they had left because of unreasonable changes in management.

Adding to the challenges brought forward last year, a lack of hospital fee increases in 2021 could put top-tier public hospitals in a war of nerves as they attempt to obtain autonomy.

The demand for doctors and medical workers is high, but the workforce for the healthcare sector is produced only by several public schools. This has prompted private schools to jump on the bandwagon.

Some educators have warned that the sharp rise in tuition set by state-owned schools will deprive poor but good students of opportunities to access higher education.

The PM has allowed 23 state-owned universities to apply the autonomy mechanism, which means that the schools have the right to set tuition themselves.

VietNamNet Bridge - The Hanoi National University mentioned the removal of the ‘governing body’ mechanism and the application of the autonomy policy as the key to improve the quality of university education.

VietNamNet Bridge - The National Assembly’s Committee for Culture, Education, the Youth and Children has completed a program on supervising the implementation of the University Education Law at 16 universities in seven cities and provinces.

VietNamNet Bridge - Most universities have rejected autonomy in enrollment decisions, saying it is too costly to organize entrance exams to select the best students. 

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) is building up a plan on removing the governing mechanism to be applied on a trial basis at three universities. 

Hanoi Economics University, HCM City Economics University and Hanoi University of Science & Technology are considering a policy which would allow them to become independent from the Ministry of Education & Training (MOET).

Under a pilot scheme, some state-owned universities are allowed to make their own decisions on investment, procurement and finance, but they have to ask the management body for approval for anything they intend to do.

Twenty-three state-owned universities are following the autonomy policy on a trial basis under a government resolution. However, they say they don’t have the right to make decisions on personnel and budgeting. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Experts have shown their concern about the opening of too many new subject majors, warning that instructional quality could decline.

VietNamNet Bridge - Some universities have been given autonomy, or the right to determine their training plans and financial issues, but still cannot make important decisions which affect their survival. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Universities have been told to become independent from the state and determine their destinies, but they have not been given the right to make decisions.

Financial autonomy has helped many universities in HCM City improve their facilities, human resources, scientific research and training quality, thereby building a brand name both locally and internationally.

Educators in the past complained about their lack of freedom in making important decisions about school operations, and were later granted more autonomy by the Ministry of Education and Training. But some of them are now  reluctant to use it.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has bemoaned the slow process of delegating more power to universities to enhance their autonomy, saying relevant agencies should accelerate the process to increase the quality of education.

VietNamNet Bridge – A conference was held in HCM City recently to collect experts’ opinion on chapter 9 of the draft amendment to the Constitution 1992 on “local government.”