Towards improving the quality of university education in the new era

Restructuring the system of higher education and pedagogical institutions helps these institutions improve the quality of training, research and their ability to adapt to changes in society and the economy.

The workshop "Contributing comments on the planning dossier for the network of higher education and pedagogical institutions for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050" received the attention of many experts. (Photo: Hong Le)

On the morning of November 18, in Hanoi, the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) held a workshop on "Contributing comments to the planning dossier for the network of higher education and pedagogical institutions for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050".

The workshop aims to gather comments from experts, scientists and stakeholders to ensure that the Plan is developed scientifically, practically and in line with the country's socio-economic development orientation.

Secretary General of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations Nguyen Quyet Chien said that building a master plan and strategy for the university and pedagogical education system is necessary to meet the requirements of socio-economic development, improve the quality of human resources, and promote the country's sustainable development.

Through the workshop, delegates discussed and deeply analyzed related issues, thereby making practical recommendations, contributing to the completion of planning documents, ensuring feasibility and effectiveness in implementation, and at the same time building a modern university and pedagogical education system, meeting the requirements of the times and international integration.

On February 17, 2021, the Prime Minister signed and issued Decision No. 209/QD-TTg approving the task of planning the network of higher education and pedagogical institutions for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050 (Decision 209). According to Clause 5, Article 1 of Decision 209/QD-TTg in 2021, the requirements for products of planning the network of higher education and pedagogical institutions for the 2021-2030 period include 5 types: Submission to the Prime Minister; Synthesis report and Summary report of the planning; Draft Decision of the Prime Minister approving the planning; Synthesis report of comments, report of explanation and acceptance of comments; System of maps, diagrams and database on planning the network of higher education and pedagogical institutions. Thus, it is possible that the documents according to Decision No. 209 of the Prime Minister have been basically fully prepared by the Ministry of Education and Training. Since I only have access to the Summary Report of the Planning, I would like to contribute my comments to the Planning that has been accessed.

Adapting to social and economic changes

Dr. Pham Van Tan, former Vice President of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, highly appreciated the structure and contents stated in the Draft Report on the synthesis of the planning of the network of higher education and pedagogical institutions for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050. In particular, this planning document focused on analyzing and evaluating the current status of the network of higher education and pedagogical institutions, the achievements, limitations and weaknesses in the past time, on that basis, along with the assessment and identification of opportunities, challenges, strengths, weaknesses, forecasts on the domestic and international situation to propose scenarios and select appropriate scenarios to develop the network of higher education and pedagogical institutions of our country for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050.

Mr. Pham Van Tan stated that the planning of the network of higher education and pedagogical institutions needs to reflect key ideas such as closely following supply and demand, linking with economic regions; shifting the higher education system to the stage of innovation; paying attention to people's need to access universities and university stratification. The network planning should avoid spreading, focus on some key points, create a difference from the previous stage, catch up with development trends, and achieve the set goals.

In addition, according to Mr. Tan, it is necessary to consider the number of universities in each region of the country, ensuring a balance between regions in harmony with the level of socio-economic development of each region. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the development of regional universities located in the center of the region and sub-region, with the mission of leading and playing a core role in training high-quality human resources, scientific research, developing and applying technology to serve the region; having the capacity, prestige and quality to be the leading region in the key fields and industries of the region.

Sharing at the Workshop, Associate Professor, Dr. To Ba Truong, Institute for Educational Development Cooperation Research, said that the university education and teacher training system is playing an increasingly important role in improving the quality of national human resources.

The report on planning the network of higher education and pedagogical institutions for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, is an important document because it provides a master plan for the development of the higher education and pedagogical system over a long period of time, from 2021 to 2050. This helps ensure sustainability and consistency in education development policies. At the same time, the planning helps meet the need for developing high-quality human resources, especially in the context of digital transformation, globalization and international integration. Higher education and pedagogical institutions play a key role in training generations of human resources for the country.

"Re-planning the system of higher education and pedagogical facilities will help facilities improve the quality of training, research and the ability to adapt to changes in society and the economy," said Mr. To Ba Truong.

Planning the educational network helps to allocate resources reasonably, develop educational infrastructure, and improve the quality of teaching and learning. This helps to ensure that educational development is evenly distributed among regions, without any shortages in quality or learning opportunities. This planning is the basis for relevant agencies and units to plan budgets and allocate investment resources to educational institutions, thereby creating a solid foundation for national educational development.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. To Ba Truong, the report is an important document providing necessary development strategies and directions so that the university and pedagogical education system can develop strongly and sustainably, meeting the increasing demands of the country in the new era.

“From the analysis and comments on the planning report, it can be seen that the plan to develop the network of higher education and pedagogical institutions in the period of 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, is an important strategy with high feasibility if properly implemented. However, to achieve the set goals, there needs to be close coordination between management agencies, universities, and education experts. This contributes to creating a modern, high-quality higher education and pedagogical system that meets the requirements of national development in the context of globalization and digital transformation,” Assoc. Prof. Dr. To Ba Truong emphasized.

Associate Professor, Dr. To Ba Truong shared at the Workshop.

Focus on building a team of high quality teachers

Expressing his opinion, Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Viet Vuong, Hanoi National University of Education, said that in modern society, teachers need to be trained systematically and scientifically to become high-quality human resources to serve the economic, cultural and social development strategy. From this, it can be seen that pedagogical universities play a great role in training and fostering teachers. In modern education, teachers must be sufficient in quantity, uniform in structure and of good quality to teach all subjects at all levels and in all localities.

However, at present, in general education, the situation of both surplus and shortage of teachers is still happening in many localities. There are even times when tens of thousands of teachers have resigned, and many localities cannot recruit teachers for the subjects they are lacking.

Recently, due to the lack of teachers to teach integrated subjects in the 2018 curriculum and textbooks, there has been a proposal to recruit college-level teachers to teach those subjects at the secondary school level. This is not consistent with the goal of innovation to improve the quality of education and training, as well as Article 72 of the Education Law on the standard training level of teachers.

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Viet Vuong said that in order for the teaching staff to become a high-quality human resource, the state needs to have a strategy for training, fostering, and using the teaching staff with systematic and synchronous solutions.

First, it is necessary to reorganize the system of teacher training universities. In order for teacher training universities to become a unified entity, providing quality and effective training, it is necessary to redefine the number of teacher training universities needed to meet the needs of teachers nationwide...

Second, train enough quantity and synchronize the structure of the teaching staff. With the motto that wherever there are students, there must be schools and teachers, and whatever subjects are taught in schools, there must be teachers with specialized training to teach them.

Third, improve the quality of teacher training. To catch up with the general level of countries in the region and the world, we need to increase teacher training time for all levels and grades.

Fourth, redesign the teacher training program. The teacher training program needs to be designed with four blocks of knowledge: basic science, fundamental science, specialized science and pedagogical science.

"Teachers play an important role in ensuring the quality of education and training, and are the key factor in improving people's knowledge, nurturing talents, and building an advanced culture imbued with national identity. From the experience of training teachers in the country as well as from the experience of countries with advanced education in the world, we need to implement synchronous solutions so that the teaching staff becomes a high-quality human resource of the country. Universities with an important mission in training and fostering a teaching staff need to be properly planned and invested in to have enough capacity to perform," Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Viet Vuong affirmed.

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