What factors help schools develop sustainably?

Experts offer solutions to help universities improve sustainable quality.

INVITE GOOD LECTURERS WITH RESEARCH ABILITY

According to Professor Nguyen Van Tuan (University of New South Wales, Australia), any index in university rankings can be abused, but when the number of published scientific articles is considered an important criterion for rankings, the number of scientific articles is the most easily influenced.

Developing facilities and investing in teaching staff are factors that help universities improve quality.

"Some universities abuse the convention of work address and research address to increase the number of articles for themselves. There are universities in Saudi Arabia that do not do much research, but they sign contracts with famous scientists in the US to have them list their research address in Saudi Arabia, and thus increase the number of scientific articles and improve their position in the rankings. This is an abuse that has not been resolved yet," said Professor Tuan.

Agreeing, Professor Luong Van Hy, University of Toronto, Chairman of the Research Ethics Council of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, said that buying articles in the form of "cash on delivery" to increase rankings in international rankings is dishonest with the academic community and the public, violates academic integrity, and does not help the sustainable development of real strength. If not corrected, the widespread phenomenon of buying articles along with many other violations of academic integrity can be likened to a cancer spreading throughout the body, very dangerous for the academic system and university education.

According to Professor Hy, if a university in Vietnam, instead of spending money to buy articles, should invite good lecturers with research capacity to work, shifting from buying articles widely to focusing on developing long-term and sustainable capacity, this would be a very positive change.

Vietnamese universities in the rankings

INVEST IN TEAM AND FACILITIES

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Hoan, Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, said that when participating in the rankings, the school does not care much about the ranking but rather about what it lacks to supplement and improve. If Vietnamese universities gradually improve the criteria and data provided by the ranking organizations, their quality will gradually approach the world.

However, according to Mr. Hoan, in the current context, to improve the quality of education of a university, people are the most important factor. We must dare to think, dare to do, dare to innovate and dare to take responsibility. "We must invest in the teaching staff by creating the best working environment, policy mechanisms, caring for their lives, and increasing their income so that teachers can wholeheartedly devote themselves to the school. Second, we must invest in facilities serving teaching and learning. Finally, we must set an example of responsibility for the leader," Mr. Hoan raised the issue.

Meanwhile, according to Professor Nguyen Minh Ha, Principal of Ho Chi Minh City Open University, the factor of building quality still includes having a good training program, teaching staff, and output standards. Regarding output standards, it is necessary to improve foreign language, IT, and soft skills to approach international standards. Training quality is measured by whether students have jobs in their field with high and stable income after graduation, develop personal capacity, and continue to self-train to adapt to the rapid changes of the modern socio-economic situation in Vietnam and the world.

Participate in rankings but don't care about rankings

University rankings are a playground that helps schools compare with other schools internationally, know their strengths and weaknesses to improve quality and enhance their position. We should participate in this game because it brings benefits to everyone, schools, students and society.

High or low ranking is not important because it depends on the world level. In this race, I may not run fast because other people are faster.

In a game, there are people who follow the rules and there are people who break the rules. In Vietnam and around the world, there are schools that use "tricks" to increase their ranking.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Chinh (Director of the Center for Testing and Training Quality Assessment, Ho Chi Minh City National University)

More practical ranking criteria than just number of articles

Ranking is also necessary but must be based on reasonable criteria and ensure integrity. Therefore, there should be a ranking solution based on some criteria that parents and society are interested in and to make it easier to clarify (many schools in the US are following this method). The criteria can be facilities, number of lecturers, number of students enrolled and graduated with suitable jobs, number of applied projects and total value of technology transfer contracts. This is more practical than counting the number of articles because it is difficult to control the mix of truth and falsehood.

Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Kiem (Former Principal of University of Information Technology, Ho Chi Minh City National University)

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