ASIA, Vietnam: Universities refuse autonomy in enrolment

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) encourages schools to exercise the self-control in their enrolment. However, universities keep indifferent to the encouragement.

Non-state owned universities, junior colleges and vocational schools claimed the right many times to draw up the enrolment plans and follow their own enrolment mechanisms themselves. However, they still keep hesitant to take initiative in enrolling students.

All schools have the right …
According to Nguyen Kim Son, Deputy Director of the Hanoi National University, with the new University Education Law which takes effects in 2013, schools have many more rights, especially the rights relating to the enrolment.

Currently, schools enroll students based on a national mechanism with three common things – the same exam questions, the same exam time, while the exam results are recognized nationwide, which can be used for schools’ reference when enrolling students.

However, Son said, the current mechanism of organizing national university entrance exams prove to be unsuitable any longer with the validity of the university education law.

Minister of Education and Training–Pham Vu Luan, also said that schools now can enjoy the autonomy in their enrolment. “I can say that all the schools have the right for this,” Luan stated at a conference held some days ago.

“Schools should draw up their enrolment plans and submit to the ministry for approval,” Luan said.

…but refuse the autonomy

By February 19 afternoon, the presidents of the schools that Nguoi lao dong reporters contacted all affirmed that they had not drawn up the enrolment plans of their owns.

To date, only 10 culture and arts schools have been moving ahead with the plans to enroll students their own ways. Many schools have decided to enroll students after considering candidates’ abilities, while they would not organize entrance exams.

Especially, literature would be exempted from the list of the exam subjects to be taken. Arts schools believe that it would be better to examine the candidates’ talents instead of requiring literature knowledge.

Bui Thien Du, President of the Phuong Dong people founded University, said that the school does not intend to organize university entrance exams itself.

Le Van Mot, President of the Thang Long University in Hanoi, said it’s not easy to organize entrance exams to seek students as previously thought.  Mot said the schools can organize the exams to enroll candidates for master of doctor training courses, but it would be more complicated to organize university entrance exams.

“There are many different exam groups, while most schools still have limitations in the human resources. Therefore, raising exam questions alone would be a big problem,” he said.

“Even the big schools such as the Hanoi National University, University of Technology, Economics University or Foreign Trade University also find it a complicated work, let alone other schools,” Mot said.

The representatives of the Hanoi National University and HCM City National University have confirmed that they do not think of following their specific enrolment plans this year, even though they both have had the enrolment plans for the next years.

The Hanoi National University is building up a plan on checking the ability of students. Meanwhile, the HCM City National University plans to ask students to attend math and Vietnamese language exams. The exam time would be no more than 120 minutes, instead of 180 minutes as seen at the current exams.

However, both the schools said the above said plans would not be implemented until 2015.