New plan links cohesive HE network to national prosperity

On 27 February, Vietnam’s prime minister approved Decision No 452/QD-TTg, which outlines the plan for the higher education network until 2030, with a vision for 2050.

Higher education plays a crucial role in strengthening human capital and enhancing the nation’s capacity for science, technology and innovation in Vietnam.

The goal of the new plan is to develop a cohesive and modern network of higher education and teaching institutions at an appropriate scale and distribution. This plan, considered a subsidiary agenda of the nationwide education strategy previously discussed in University World News, also aims to establish an open, equitable, high-quality and effective higher education system that increasingly meets the learning needs of the people while supporting the country’s development goals.

This initiative is expected to contribute to a breakthrough in national prosperity in the new era, driven by high-quality human resources, science, technology and innovation.

Higher education centres

The plan to establish major higher education centres in four key urban regions – Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Can Tho – demonstrates a clear policy commitment to advancing education and research and leveraging the scientific and technological advancements that universities can contribute.

These initiatives are designed to address the dynamic developments and shifting demands of these four major economic hubs, as well as the country as a whole. By leveraging the education, research and innovation potential of these four new higher education hubs, the aim is for Vietnam to strengthen its capacity-building efforts and enable its higher education system to better tackle the country’s socio-economic, technological and innovation challenges.

In addition to the establishment of these centres, upgrading Hue University and the University of Da Nang into national universities, along with designating others as regional universities, will strengthen both these individual institutions and Vietnam’s overall higher education sector, enhancing its capacity for teaching and learning, research, science and technology development.

However, several key barriers may hinder the effective implementation of these new initiatives. A more cohesive framework, along with adequate support mechanisms, is essential for the plan’s effective execution. Moreover, the excessive control exerted by government agencies, including the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Home Affairs, over core areas of university operations may undermine the autonomy needed for these initiatives to succeed.

There are also significant challenges related to the balance between autonomy and financial self-reliance, especially within the current context of Vietnam. Additional concerns include how to navigate decentralisation effectively, the impact of market forces on institutional autonomy and the gap between granting institutions the freedom to make choices and the ability to act on those choices to support the implementation of new initiatives.

Barriers to implementation need to be carefully considered and removed, including the impractical or inappropriate conditions associated with the granting of autonomy and the limited scope for implementation.

Specific targets

The plan outlines specific targets under six schedules:

• Education distribution direction in areas and administrative divisions;

• Distribution of higher education institutions (by headquarters) in regions;

• Development orientation of education structure and primary fields of national universities and regional universities;

• Guidelines for the distribution of teacher training coverage across regions;

• Education scale direction of primary higher education institutions providing teacher training; and

• Development direction of key higher education institutions specialising in engineering and technology (other than national universities and regional universities).

These schedules provide detailed targets for higher education institutions’ organisation and development plans. In particular, the plan lists selected higher education institutions and primary majors and fields that are prioritised for the next phase of development for the higher education sector and the country.

However, this policy of calling out particular subjects and specialisms risks excluding and marginalising universities, majors and fields that are not listed in these schedules. This has the potential to undermine equity and equality in investment and support for the development of the higher education sector as a whole in Vietnam.

It also remains unknown whether the list can be updated or adjusted to reflect dynamic developments, emerging demands and the changing geopolitical, economic, social and technology needs of the country.

Access and equity

One of the specific objectives outlined in Decision No 452/QD-TTg is to achieve more than three million learners, with 260 undergraduates and 23 graduates per 10,000 people, as well as to ensure that 33% of the population in the 18-22 age group can access undergraduate study, with no province or city having a rate lower than 15%. These goals reflect the government’s commitment to improving access in higher education.

However, greater focus must be given to equity issues, particularly improving access to higher education and ensuring fairness for ethnic minorities and remote communities.

A 2020 World Bank report highlights that, over a 10-year period, the gap in tertiary education access between the dominant ethnic group (Kinh/Hoa) and ethnic minorities grew significantly, increasing from a 13 percentage point difference in 2006 to a 34 percentage point difference in 2018.

This underscores the need for a more effective mechanism to support higher education access and equity, especially for ethnic minorities and remote communities and people from lower incomes or less privileged backgrounds.

Moreover, while increased institutional autonomy has enabled universities to explore alternative funding sources, tuition fees have become a primary source of income. However, the lack of oversight of tuition fees, including caps, hinders access and fairness for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

To address this issue, it is crucial to develop a more effective and equitable system of government scholarships, a tuition fee waive or reductions and flexible student loans, such as income contingent loans, to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds who cannot afford the tuition fees. These strategies ensure that financial barriers do not hinder access to higher education.

Sustainability and innovation

The decision also highlights government goals to increase Vietnamese higher education’s contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and the Global Innovation Index (GII) and its aims to be among the top 10 Asian countries on the GII.

Vietnam has made notable progress in gender equity in higher education, as reported by the World Bank (2020) and the Ministry of Education and Training, with female enrolment rising from 48% in 2006 to 54.6 % in 2020. This demonstrates the country’s commitment to ensuring SDG 4.3 on equal access to affordable and quality technical, vocational and higher education for all.

In the Global Innovation Index 2024, Vietnam ranks 44th globally and is advancing towards the top 40, showing significant progress among middle-income economies. As an innovation over-performer for 14 consecutive years, Vietnam’s goal to be among the top 10 Asian countries underscores its commitment to enhancing its innovation capabilities and aligning with regional leaders.

Internationalisation

The new plan continues to strengthen the role of higher education in advancing national industrialisation, modernisation and international integration.

To achieve these objectives, one of the key actions outlined in the reform agenda is to leverage resources, particularly state funding, to elevate the higher education system on the international stage. However, the plan emphasises directing public funding towards upgrading and developing select higher education institutions and specific fields to meet both sectoral and international quality benchmarks.

This focused approach, while aiming to meet the goals set forth in the Education Development Strategy until 2030, could potentially jeopardise equality across institutions and fields of education and hinder the comprehensive development of the entire higher education system.

The action plan underscores the need to further develop three leading universities established through intergovernmental agreements between Vietnam and Germany, France and Japan – the Vietnamese-German University, the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi and the Vietnam-Japan University. These institutions are envisioned to become research-intensive centres of higher education, with a high level of internationalisation, particularly in the fields of science, engineering and technology.

A key priority is to attract renowned international universities to invest in and establish campuses in Vietnam. The emphasis is on institutions specialising in science, engineering and technology – areas considered to align with the country’s skills needs and rapid economic growth. While there is strong interest from foreign institutions in Vietnam, the significant financial investment required remains a major hurdle for foreign universities seeking to establish campuses in the country.

The plan also calls for the expansion and diversification of transnational collaborations and partnerships between Vietnamese and prestigious foreign universities. The goal is to enhance education, research and the application of science and technology.

The plan also highlights the importance of establishing bilateral agreements and treaties with international partners to upgrade and enhance the quality of higher education institutions, transforming them into leading organisations in science and technology. This initiative aims to boost the number of internationally ranked institutions in these fields, but it may lead to uneven and fragmented internationalisation within the Vietnamese higher education system.

Teacher education

The new plan also emphasises the importance of teacher training in addressing the country’s teacher shortages and the need to improve the quality of teacher training.

A key initiative introduced is the Teacher Training Higher Education or Pedagogy Institution Network, which aims to develop a network of institutions capable of accommodating 180,000 to 200,000 students. Of these, approximately 85% will be enrolled in university-level education, while 15% will pursue three-year college-level education. The initiative also provides a regional distribution plan for these institutions to ensure balanced access across the country.

This new development plan is a significant step towards transforming Vietnam’s higher education and innovation capabilities. However, the country needs to overcome the outlined challenges while capitalising on its strengths to achieve its goals and enable its higher education system to effectively respond to evolving socio-economic and technological needs and workforce demands.

Ly Tran is a professor in the School of Education and Research for Educational Impact (REDI), Deakin University, Australia. Ly has published extensively on internationalisation of education, the education-work-migration nexus, international graduate employability, geopolitics of international education, Indo-Pacific student mobility and comparative and Vietnamese higher education. Ly’s research and publications can be found in this profile. Dr Thu Do is an academic learning adviser at Student Academic Success, Portfolio of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Experience), Monash University, Australia. She provides learning advice, develops learning resources, and teaches courses for higher degree research students. Her previous roles have been as research fellow at Deakin University, research coordinator at Monash Intercultural Lab, language educator at Monash College and RMIT University and lecturer at Hue University. Her recent publications focus on higher education, international education, intercultural education, student mobility, graduate employability and translator education. Dr Hiep Pham is the director of the REK Institute for Research on Education and Knowledge Transfer at Thanh Do University, Vietnam. He is also affiliated with Vietnam National University, Hanoi – University of Education, serving as co-head of the Educational Policies and Sciences Research Unit. In 2024, he joined a research team co-hosted by Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training – International Cooperation Department and the British Council Vietnam to contribute to the report ‘Vietnam as the Next Study Destination in Southeast Asia: Towards the creation of an international education hub – Lessons and evidence’.

This article is a commentary. Commentary articles are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of University World News.