Universities are having trouble paying PhDs only 15 million

The director of Hanoi National University said there is a lot of competition because they can only guarantee a monthly salary of 15 million VND for a PhD with 5 years of experience, while businesses pay 40-50 million.

At the National Assembly's discussion session on the economic and social development situation on the morning of October 24, Director of Hanoi National University Le Quan said that there were many difficulties in calculating income for staff when increasing the basic salary and competing with the private sector to attract human resources.

Mr. Quan said that Hanoi National University is assigned to train in fields that are in high demand in society, especially engineering and technology. The training institution is excited to recruit a PhD who studied abroad in basic science and can pay a salary of 15-20 million.

"But also PhDs in science and technology such as artificial intelligence, fintech when entering the business, they require an income of no less than 40-50 million. The competition is very big," Mr. Quan said.

In 2021, according to the Ministry of Education and Training's report on university autonomy, nearly 60% of lecturers had an income of 100-150 million VND per year, or 8.3 to 12.5 million VND per month. To ensure the level of 15 million VND per month, at the end of last year, Hanoi National University had to introduce a financial support policy for lecturers under 40 years old by placing orders, assigning tasks, and scientific topics. However, this university also assessed this level as not high.

Director of Hanoi National University Le Quan. Photo: Hoang Phong — Director of Hanoi National University Le Quan. Photo: *Hoang Phong*

According to Mr. Quan, the problem of innovation and improving the quality of university education must originate from income, not to mention living and working conditions for experts and scientists. Meanwhile, schools do not have enough resources to attract them, especially in new or highly applicable fields. The reason is that the university autonomy mechanism still has many problems.

"We still say that autonomy does not mean cutting expenses, but in reality it is still the same. With the rate of reduction in regular expenses and staff, it is clear that universities are facing financial autonomy," said Mr. Quan.

In addition, universities are subject to many constraints when implementing tuition policies. Many majors want to increase tuition fees but are stuck with the ceiling. In addition, universities cannot rely solely on tuition fees to survive and develop.

Mr. Quan proposed that the National Assembly support financial support policies for universities, especially when economic growth and people's incomes decrease. With autonomous higher education institutions, the Government needs to consider the salary payment mechanism for staff and lecturers in the context of current salary reform.

Currently, the percentage of university lecturers with doctoral degrees in Vietnam is about 31%, with the target of reaching 35% by 2025. This level is much lower than that of universities in the UK, US, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka (50-75%).

Son Ha

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