VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), in an effort to reform higher education, is considering shortening the time for education from 4-6 years to 3-4 years.


MOET’s plan on reforming the national education system which has been open to public opinion has drawn the special attention to the proposed university education model, under which students would obtain bachelor’s degree after 3-4 years of training instead of 4-6 years.

MOET said the adjustment would help Vietnam’s higher education system approach international standards.

VietNamNet’s readers have shown agreement on the proposed new higher education mechanism, saying that shortening the training time at school is a growing tendency in the world.

Hoang Thu Loan, in an email to the editorial board, wrote she believes three years is enough for economics, technology and social science training, while students would need more than three years if they go to law or medical school.

Students would obtain bachelor’s degree after 3-4 years of training instead of 4-6 years.

Loan had to spend five years studying linguistics at Hanoi University, which has been renamed Hanoi National University, nearly 30 years ago. 

“I believe the fourth and fifth years were nonsensical,” she wrote. “It would be better to finish school soon and train in practice.”

Some years after Loan graduated from school, the time for university training was cut to four years, but she still believes three years would be ‘enough’.

In fact, the database provided by some schools showed that obtaining a bachelor’s degree after three years of study is within the reach of Vietnamese students. 

At present, many schools offer bachelor’s degree after students fulfill a certain number of credits, no matter how many years they study at school. And many students can obtain the degree after three years of study.

Huynh Nguyen Mai Chi, born in 1993, a student of the HCM City Banking, got two bachelor’s degrees in two majors in October 2015 after three years of study.

Some students of the HCM City Forestry and Agriculture University also reportedly got bachelor’s degrees after three years. These include Le Vu from Quang Ngai province, and Huyen Ngan from Tien Giang.

Commenting about the MOET’s plan, Le Truong Tung, president of FPT University, said the one-year reduction would be a big change. 

FPT University students have nine semesters, not including the time for education on national defence and foreign language practice.

Tung warned that it would be a big challenge for schools to cut one year, or 20-25 percent, of the training time, while they still need to ensure training quality and qualifications of graduates.


CV