The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has announced a plan on a network for higher education and pedagogical institutions for 2021-2030, with a vision for 2050.

Son told VietNamNet that the primary goal of the plan is to optimize the structure and distribution of training disciplines at higher education institutions. This serves as a basis for effective investment.

“First of all, we need to be sure that schools meet standards for facilities, especially in terms of land area, construction space, and other conditions to meet the standards set for higher education institutions. Second, key higher education institutions (such as national universities, regional universities, and those prioritized for training in pedagogy, technology, health sciences, and more) will receive big investments to enhance quality and reputation both domestically and internationally."

"Thus, the most significant impact of this plan is improving training quality and expanding access to higher education for people. During this process, if some institutions fail to meet standards, they will be forced to merge, consolidate, or dissolve as per Resolution 19,” Son said.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son noted that in this plan, the identified key training fields and disciplines will closely follow the country’s development policies and orientations.

“Generally, these include fields like technology, natural sciences, life sciences, basic sciences, computer science and information technology, and architecture and construction. These are STEM fields—serving the development of science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation. These also include teacher training, health sciences, and certain fields aligned with the development orientations of economic regions, as shown in Politburo’s resolutions and regional development plans,” Son explained.

He emphasized that planning is necessary for the state to decide to make investments, and make investments in the right addresses, guiding state investment with a focus on priorities. 

It is expected that by 2030, the country will have 50-60 higher education institutions training up to the doctoral level—the highest level of higher education—with about 50 being research-oriented establishments.

“If we don’t have around 25-30 research-oriented institutions, it will be very challenging to develop the human resources needed for science and technology to achieve the set strategies, especially the Politburo Resolution 57 on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation,” Son said.

The networking plan also mentions reducing or consolidating some units. “In the system, fewer entities mean more effective management, investment, and oversight. Those excelling in training or research, especially in key fields, will receive more concentrated state investment rather than scattered funding. With such a competitive mechanism, schools failing to meet standards will face a dissolution.

To develop local universities, some schools may merge or consolidate to form a regional university or another multidisciplinary, large-scale institution to better meet the development needs of regions and localities. This is also a way to reduce entities. However, the key isn’t just reducing the number of institutions, but strengthening the capacity of universities,” Son added.

He went on to say that the major goal of the merger is not reducing the number of units, but making units stronger.  Weak units must dissolve or merge with others for better reorganization.

“We shouldn’t aim solely at reducing numbers - what matters more is how we reduce to enhance the capacity of schools.”

Under the plan to network higher education and pedagogical institutions for 2021-2030, Vietnam will focus on developing five public higher education institutions into national key higher education institutions in engineering and technology, with quality and prestige on par with the region. Of these, Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) would be ranked among the top higher education institutions in Asia.

The main majors of the university include natural sciences and life science; maths and statistics; computer and information technology; and engineering.

These institutions, together with national universities and some regional universities, play a key role in training of high-quality human resources and talents, research, development, and innovation to serve the development of high-tech fields, strategic technology, and national digital transformation.

STEM education establishments are expected to have 1 million learners by 2030, with 7 percent of them having master’s degrees, and 1 percent having doctorates.

Meanwhile, three universities established under inter-governmental degrees will become scientific technological, and engineering centers with high internationalization levels.

Thanh Hung