News and Events

She made a proposal to get rid of high school graduation exam as the high results are not really accurate. "For a few years the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has been tightening its control over high school final exams. The result is that several schools have graduation rates as low as 14% and some schools even reporting 0%. If we are to keep the graduation exam, more attention will have to be placed on its content and administration," she said.

She went on to emphasise the necessity to take a fresh look at training methods in all sectors and levels of education, saying that the MoET should review the efficiency of private schools in order to attract more investment.

Professor Tran Phuong, Director of Hanoi University of Business and Technology, said, “Many people are aware that the quality of higher education in Vietnam is substandard. Lack of funding has been the biggest obstacle to improving education as a whole."

Spending on education currently accounts for about 20% of the state budget.

The government’s annual investment for higher education stands at only VND10-12 million (USD471.92-USD566.3) per student. Professor Hoang Xuan Sinh, Chairman of Thang Long University’s Board of Directors, pointed out that the current per-student investment in Vietnam is very low compared to several other countries in the world, where it ranges from USD5,000 to USD50,000 per student. However increasing this amount does not seem to be within the government's ability at present.

In order to improve the situation, according to him, the government should encourage more private investment in education.

“80% of students in colleges and universities in Japan study at private schools. Despite being a world's economic power, the percentage of private universities in the US still stands at around 25%. Recent policy in Vietnam does not encourage the development of private universities. These policies were made for fear of substandard education quality. However this is the opposite of the trend taking place in the rest of the world," Phuong commented.

Prof Ho Ngoc Dai suggested reducing high school education by one year instead of currently three years

Prof Ho Ngoc Dai proposed reducing basic education by one year, which would mean that high school would last for only two years.

Associate Professor Van Nhu Cuong, Director of Luong The Vinh High School, suggested that programmes and targets should be adjusted to make for a system that is more adapted to those students who wish to go to vocational schools or pursue other types of training instead of going to university after high school.