Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc, Head of the Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Structures, Chairman of the Council of the University of Technology - Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Chairman of the Vietnam Higher Education Quality Assurance Network Club. He is a leading expert in advanced materials and structures, has published more than 300 articles and scientific works and is an international council member of 10 prestigious international ISI journals, and is one of the outstanding scientists who have contributed to defining Vietnam's science and technology (S&T) on the world S&T map.
For 5 consecutive years, from 2019 to present, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc is one of 2 scientists working in Vietnam in the top 10,000 most influential scientists in the world and ranked in the top 100 in the world in the field of Engineering and Technology.
On this occasion, PV interviewed the Professor about the achievements and challenges of Vietnamese higher education after 10 years of implementing Resolution 29.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc, Head of Advanced Materials and Structures Laboratory, Chairman of the Council of the University of Technology - Vietnam National University, Hanoi
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Professor, after 10 years of implementing Resolution 29 on "Fundamental and comprehensive innovation of education and training to meet the requirements of industrialization and modernization in the context of a socialist-oriented market economy and international integration", how do you evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Vietnamese higher education in the process of implementing this Resolution?This is a Resolution of historical significance in the cause of reviving the country's education. The Resolution was issued in the context of the country promoting industrialization and modernization and the world entering the era of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution. With the 7 goals stated in the Resolution, it can be seen that they are all important, basic, core, and fundamental goals and contents - very modern and integrated, very correct, accurate, and timely.
There have been many conferences and seminars summarizing and evaluating the results of implementing Resolution 29 from different perspectives. There are many achievements, but in Vietnam's higher education, I see the following 4 most outstanding achievements:
First of all, it can be assessed that Vietnamese higher education has quickly integrated and approached international standards. It can be seen that never before has Vietnamese education innovated so quickly and strongly, approaching international standards as in recent years.The clearest evidence for this statement is the results in the assessment of university education quality and university rankings.
To date, almost all Vietnamese higher education institutions have had specialized units for quality assurance; 7 education quality assessment centers have been established and licensed to operate by the Ministry.
As of September 30, 2023, the whole country had 186 higher education institutions and 11 pedagogical colleges meeting accreditation standards according to the set of standards for accreditation of higher education quality in Vietnam, accounting for more than 70% of the total number of universities and academies in the country; 9 higher education institutions were recognized by international assessment/accreditation organizations (HCERES, AUN-QA); 1,297 training programs had completed self-assessment reports; 1,143 training programs had been accredited and externally evaluated, and 996 programs had been recognized as meeting quality standards. In just the past few years, the number of accredited training programs has increased rapidly, about 8 times higher than in 2020.
Through self-assessment and external assessment, schools can see their strengths and weaknesses and develop more realistic and effective quality improvement plans. Educational institutions have changed their perspective on quality assurance, enhancing school management capacity and teaching and learning management.
If accreditation reflects quality, university rankings speak for class. Since 2018, for the first time in the history of Vietnamese higher education, only 2 national universities have been listed in the top 1,000 universities in the world according to the QS rankings. Now, Vietnamese universities have been listed in many prestigious international rankings such as QS, THE, ARWU. Recently, the THE ranking organization announced the world's best university rankings in 2023, with 6 Vietnamese universities ranked quite high in this ranking: Hanoi National University, Ho Chi Minh City National University, Hue University, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Ton Duc Thang University and Duy Tan University; in which some majors and training fields are ranked in the top 500-1000 in the world...
Breakthrough changes in quality and potential of science and technology.Ten years ago, the average proportion of lecturers with doctoral degrees in universities nationwide was only about 15%, but now, this proportion has more than doubled, reaching about 32%. The quantity and quality of the team has increased step by step, year by year according to international standards. If in the past, professors and associate professors were not required to publish internationally, now the mandatory title standards require professors and associate professors to have publications in prestigious international journals.
Up to now, in higher education institutions across the country, there are more than 1,000 research groups, including hundreds of strong research groups, and from strong research groups, a number of excellent laboratories and research centers have been established, playing a leading role in the country's scientific and technological activities.
The quality of learners in terms of expertise, foreign languages and information technology are all required to be higher than before. Especially in terms of foreign languages, there have been important advances: the output standard for foreign languages at university level is B1, with international, talented and high-quality programs, students can achieve even higher output standards; the current input foreign language requirement for postgraduate level is B2 for both master's and doctoral training. The rate of graduates who can find jobs is increasing, especially Vietnamese students are increasingly actively participating in the global labor market, multinational companies at home and abroad.
Thanks to improving quality standards and having policies to support research and research groups, Vietnam's international publications have increased sharply. From 59th place (4,017 articles) in 2014, it has risen to 46th place in the world (18,466 articles) in 2022. The total number of international articles in Vietnam is 97,520 in the period 2014-2022 (source: www.scimagojr.com). Not only has the quantity increased, but the quality has also increased, with the citation index of research results by Vietnamese scientists increasing. In recent years, a number of Vietnamese scientists have also been listed in the world's influential scientists, which have been objectively evaluated and voted by the international community. These are important changes in the quality of the team, and a very proud result of Vietnam's higher education.
Pay attention to training and nurturing talents; quickly and strongly shift the occupational structure to meet the requirements of the 4.0 industrial revolution. Implementing Resolution 29, in addition to standard training programs, the Ministry of Education and Training has directed universities to actively deploy advanced talent training programs to train and nurture talents.The teaching staff participating in these programs are selected from excellent Vietnamese lecturers and some foreign lecturers, aiming to develop and internationalize the training program, meeting the needs of global human resources. In addition, with programs 322, 911, Project 89, we have sent thousands of young, excellent intellectuals to study for university, master's and doctoral degrees abroad.
The unprecedented rapid development of the 4.0 industrial revolution has led to a great demand for high-quality, highly-skilled human resources and is creating opportunities and challenges for Vietnam. Vietnam's higher education is actively transforming digitally, with STEM knowledge increasingly being focused on at the university level. In addition, there has been a rapid and appropriate shift in the structure of occupations. From the beginning of 2016 to the first 8 months of 2023, the total number of newly opened majors at the university level was about 300, showing that Vietnam's higher education is moving quickly and in the right direction, keeping up with the trend of the 4.0 industrial revolution.
University autonomyhas been implemented quickly, extensively and in many aspects, especially after the National Assembly issued Law 34 of 2018 on the amended Law on Higher Education. Implementing Law No. 34, the Government issued Decree No. 99/2019/ND-CP dated December 30, 2019 detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Higher Education. Policies on university autonomy are like a breath of fresh air that have completely changed the face and governance of universities in recent years. According to a report by the Ministry of Education and Training, by the end of 2022, a total of 141/232 universities were eligible for autonomy according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 32 of the Law on Higher Education. And by August 2023, there were only 4 public universities that had not been established and 2 private universities that had not yet completed their university councils.
The most important achievement of university autonomy in recent times is to “untie” schools, thereby creating a mechanism for schools to proactively attract and promote a strong increase in resources to invest in quality and development. Linking autonomy with self-responsibility and accountability of schools. University autonomy has truly been a breakthrough that has contributed significantly to improving the potential of science and technology, improving the quality of training, the quality of staff and the quality of science and technology activities of universities in the past few years, thereby accelerating university rankings, rapidly increasing the human potential, facilities and international integration capacity of Vietnamese universities.
In short, in the past 5 years, the implementation of Resolution 29 has been actively and comprehensively implemented by universities, and since then, Vietnamese higher education has achieved many very important achievements. That is, our higher education has integrated and followed international standards; promoted university autonomy, had a breakthrough in quality and had a strong transformation in training programs, occupational structure and structure, and quality of human resources to meet the requirements of the 4.0 industrial revolution. Those innovative achievements have impacted the entire activities of the education sector, and more deeply, the whole society, influencing and fundamentally and comprehensively innovating the country's education system.
I see the greatest achievement from those innovations. In the university education system, we have trained a team of successor cadres and human resources with high quality, high qualifications, young talent, capable of shouldering the great and glorious mission of the country in the new period.
- Professor, besides the achievements, in your opinion, what are the limitations and to better implement Resolution 29, what solutions are needed in the coming time to promote Vietnamese higher education to progress faster and stronger?Besides the great achievements we have made, we also frankly admit that there are still shortcomings and limitations.
To improve the quality of university education, we must improve the quality and do well in all stages: admission; training programs; teaching organization and training management, university administration (including quality assurance conditions; staff, facilities, testing and assessment); and output standards.
Meeting some output standards of Vietnamese students such as foreign languages, thinking and critical thinking ability, and professional skills is still low. Many training programs still lack connection with research and practice. The quality of lecturers in some schools and some fields is still weak and lacking.
In particular, investment in higher education is still low; investment in research and research groups is spread out and funding is trickle-down, while procedures for reviewing and assigning topics are slow and settlement is cumbersome. The mechanism for cooperation with businesses and business investment in universities also has many barriers.
The pressure of exams, creating conditions for autonomous schools, allowing almost all candidates to pass the university entrance exam, has given rise to many problems such as: too many options and combinations of admissions; the quality of admissions to some universities and many majors is still low. In the coming time, it is necessary to continue to research and improve, innovate more strongly the admission work; promote the role of the State management agency in controlling the quality of university admissions.
Another point that cannot be ignored is university autonomy. Besides the great achievements that university autonomy has brought in recent times, it must also be admitted that this is a very new implementation model in Vietnam and needs to continue to be perfected.
- It is known that this year, GS increased its ranking from top 94 to 85 in the world in the field of Engineering and Technology. What do you think about this achievement?
I was surprised and felt very happy and proud. My perseverance, hard work and tireless research over the past decades were finally recognized and rewarded.
Scientists dedicate themselves not for ranking, not for fame, but to be internationally evaluated and ranked in prestigious rankings fairly and objectively is a source of pride and honor. Without a database to evaluate and quantify scientists' research results and their influence according to international standards, we in Vietnam will not know where we stand compared to our international colleagues, and we will not know when our talented and dedicated young people will be recognized and honored, so that they will have more motivation and confidence to continue striving and embarking on the arduous path of scientific research.
My success is also the success and joy of the research team, of generations of students and also the joy and success of the school, of Hanoi National University. I believe that the recognition of Vietnamese scientists in the international scientific community is also a source of pride, a testament to the achievements of Vietnam's Higher Education and Science.
Thank you for sharing, Professor!
