Over the years, Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT) has been involved in scandals regarding investment, training, academics, etc. But there is another scandal that the school has been involved in since 2017, which is a serious crisis in the judiciary, law enforcement, and internal affairs of the school.
The Ministry of Education and Training has held many meetings with the school’s board of directors as well as the group of investors, but so far there has been a deadlock. The consequences of this crisis are huge, even at the risk of the school being dissolved, if the investors cannot find a solution.
Hanoi University of Business and Technology has made many contributions to innovation in higher education.
4 years of operation without a school board
Recently, Thanh Nien Newspaper received a complaint from Mr. Lai Viet Hung, Head of the HUBT Investors Liaison Committee, representing shareholders with a total capital contribution of over 40% of the school. Mr. Lai Viet Hung's complaint includes many contents, including the fact that investors are helpless to see their assets worth thousands of billions of VND showing signs of manipulation.
Mr. Hung said that according to the requirements of the 2018 revised Law on Higher Education, HUBT, like all other higher education institutions nationwide, must establish a school board. In June 2019, the Prime Minister also decided to convert HUBT from a non-public to a private type. This further requires investors to urgently organize a conference to elect a school board (a governing body representing investors and stakeholders at the university). Only after the school board is established, will the school have a principal (because only the school board has the authority to appoint the principal).
However, for more than 4 years now, HUBT has been operating without a school board. The daily operations of the school are carried out by a board of directors from the previous board of directors (when the school was still operating as a private school). The board of directors is led by Professor Tran Phuong, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Principal of HUBT, who is nearly 100 years old and, according to confirmation from some investors, has not been healthy enough to directly manage the school's operations for many years.
Speaking to Thanh Nien Newspaper reporter, another investor, Dr. Nguyen Kim Son (former assistant principal, former Chief of Office of HUBT) said that HUBT is in a state of having no leader, like an orchestra without a conductor. This greatly affects the legitimate and legal rights of nearly 900 shareholders (most of whom are staff, lecturers, and workers working directly at HUBT), of students, and affects the development of the school.
"HUBT has made many positive contributions to the country in the post-renovation period, especially in the innovation of higher education. The school is a testament to the correctness of the Party and State's policy of socializing education in the period of international integration. Therefore, I ask the Ministry of Education and Training and other agencies to save the school," Dr. Son urgently requested.
Why?
According to Dr. Nguyen Kim Son, immediately after the Prime Minister decided to convert HUBT into a private type, the current board of directors tried to delay the establishment of the school board. The evidence is that the school received the Prime Minister's decision on June 7, 2019 but kept it a secret. Nearly a year later, the incident was exposed, and the board of directors announced and discussed it at the board meeting on May 9, 2020.
It took nearly 5 months of debate and discussion for the investors to organize a preparatory investor conference (October 19-20, 2020), approving the basic contents to prepare for the conference to elect the school board. This conference is expected to be held in early November 2020.
Professor Tran Phuong (second from left) at his home, listening to the report of the HUBT investors' preparatory conference organizing delegation, October 2020
On October 24, 2020, the presidium and secretary of the preparatory conference of investors went to Professor Tran Phuong's house to report the results of the conference. "At that time, Professor Tran Phuong was still conscious. He seemed very happy with the results of the preparatory conference, agreeing to hold the official conference ten days later. But suddenly, on October 26, 2010, someone brought an official document signed by Professor Tran Phuong to the school, the content of the document was to temporarily suspend the official conference of investors," Dr. Son recalled.
Subsequently, various groups expressed “conspiracy” to organize investor conferences to elect the school board. However, these conferences were considered by other investor groups to be prepared in illegal ways, or the conferences were organized by individuals who were not qualified to convene the conferences. Therefore, these conferences were either annulled or not held.
Alone in a style
According to Thanh Nien Newspaper, HUBT was established in June 1996, originally a private school, with financial foundation mobilized from many shareholders. The first principal of the school, and up to now (on paper) is Professor Tran Phuong. Shortly after the school was established, Professor Tran Phuong also held the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors (and Principal).
When HUBT was first established, state management of higher education was in a period of transition. Private universities were a new type of university, so the legal regulations related to this model were still loose. Later, the legal framework was increasingly improved to bring the activities of non-public schools into order.
However, despite state regulations, HUBT still exists and operates in a "one-man-show" manner. Typically, for decades now, Professor Tran Phuong has held the role of chairman of the board of directors and principal, even though according to regulations, Professor Tran Phuong is no longer qualified.
Specifically, in 2000, the Prime Minister issued Decision 86/2000/QD-TTg promulgating the regulations for private universities, which stipulates the age of the chairman of the board of directors and the principal. Accordingly, the chairman of the board of directors and the principal must not be over 70 years old at the time of nomination to these positions. In addition, an individual is not allowed to hold the position of principal of a private university for more than two consecutive terms.
In the university charter that the Prime Minister issued in 2014, the age limit for the principal of a private university was extended, but it must not exceed 75 years old for men and 70 years old for women. In accordance with the Education Law issued in 2005, HUBT is a private university (although the school only complied with the requirement to switch to this type in 2019).
Thus, regardless of the regulations, Professor Tran Phuong does not meet the qualifications to be the principal of HUBT.
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