Finance is the biggest bottleneck in higher education development

This is the assessment of the Ministry of Education and Training, when evaluating 5 years of implementing the Law on Higher Education 2019-2023.

Candidates learn about university admission information in a program organized by Tuoi Tre newspaper - Photo: DUYEN PHAN

According to the ministry, the five years of implementing the Law on Higher Education have brought about many positive results in system development, especially in implementing university autonomy. However, there are still many problems and difficulties.

Among these, financial assessment is the biggest bottleneck in the development of higher education.

The financial potential of most higher education institutions is still weak and unsustainable, mainly relying on tuition fees and state budget (if any) while public resources are limited.

Statistics show that 77% of university revenue comes from tuition fees, only 5% comes from research and technology transfer.

The financial mechanism for education is also still entangled. The allocation of financial resources is not really based on the quality of output. The management and use of finance and assets are still bound by many regulations and overlaps, even having certain contradictions, leading to a lack of consistency in understanding, applying and applying legal regulations in accordance with reality.

Besides, investment resources for higher education in Vietnam are not only very low, but have actually decreased sharply in recent years.

This ministry cited data from the Ministry of Finance showing that Vietnam's state budget spending on higher education in 2020 accounted for only 0.27% of GDP, but actual spending only reached 0.18% of GDP.

Meanwhile, the actual expenditure in Indonesia is 0.57%, in Thailand 0.64%, China 0.87%, Singapore 1% and Malaysia 1.13%.

From this reality, the Ministry of Education and Training assesses that financial resources are the biggest bottleneck for the development of higher education and the implementation of strategic breakthroughs in high-quality human resources, science, technology and innovation in our country.

Universities violate laws due to overlapping laws

Besides financial issues, the Ministry of Education and Training also recognizes that the system of legal documents related to higher education is not unified, leading to different understandings of the same issue.

Legal regulations related to autonomy, finance, and personnel are overlapping and inconsistent, causing difficulties for higher education institutions in implementing comprehensive autonomy.

In addition to the provisions of the Law on Higher Education, public higher education institutions are also bound and governed by many laws such as the Law on Public Property, the Law on Public Investment, the Law on State Budget, the Law on Cadres - Civil Servants, the Law on Public Employees, etc.

The lack of institutional consistency and connectivity leads to each agency, ministry, and university having different understandings and applications; thereby giving rise to inadequacies and even violations in the process of implementing policies and laws.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tai-chinh-la-diem-nghen-lon-nhat-trong-phat-trien-giao-duc-dai-hoc-20241221105025782.htm