Graduates from University of Languages and International Studies under National University Hanoi at a graduation ceremony. (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Adraft amendment to higher education law proposes clarifying universityassessment measures and making them uniform so that university rankings can bemore precise in the future.
The draft, proposed by the Ministry of Education and Training, is intended tobring Vietnam’s university ranking system in line with international rankingschemes, and ultimately improve the country’s university system.
Nguyen Thi Kim Phung, Director of the ministry’s Higher Education Department,told local media that after the Law on Higher Education was approved byNational Assembly in 2015, Government issued a decree on university ranking andthe ministry completed a draft instruction on university ranking last year.
According to the decree, one of the ranking criteria is quality assessmentresults complied by the universities, independent assessors and the educationministry.
However, Phung said that the assessment and ranking required a reliabledatabase, based on established scientific criteria and agreed upon andimplemented by multiple stakeholders.
The complicated process was blamed for the delay of a publication of Vietnam Universityrankings in the past, Phung said.
“Ranking is for reference. However, a ranking without care could have negativeeffects on the reputations of ranked universities or provide confusinginformation,” she said.
Some universities could take advantage of inexact rankings to collect highertuition fees. They could concentrate on investing in major ranking criteria togain a higher rank while ignoring lesser criteria, instead of focusing onlearners’ demands, she said.
The official made the comments after a group of independent experts publicisedthe country’s first university ranking early last week.
The group included Dr Luu Quang Hung, a researcher working in Melbourne, DrNguyen Ngoc Anh, Director of the Hanoi-based Development and Policies ResearchCentre and Dr Giap Van Duong, an education expert who has conductedpostdoctoral research in physics and chemistry in Europe. Consultancy was alsoprovided by Vietnamese professors at the University of New South Wales andPantheon-Sorbonne University.
The group ranked universities based on three criteria: scientific research,education quality, and infrastructure and management.
According to the ranking, Vietnam National University Hanoi topped the list of49 schools. Next came HCM City’s Ton Duc Thang University, Vietnam NationalUniversity of Agriculture, Da Nang University and Vietnam National UniversityHCM City.
Some of the so-called top business universities gained modest positions,including Foreign Trade University (23rd), National Economic University (30th),Vietnam University of Commerce (29th) and Academy of Finance (40th).
According to the independent ranking group, the business universities have fewinternational scientific reports and their staff are teaching classes beyondtheir expertise.
Luu Quang Hung said at the ranking launch that they faced difficulties incollecting and sorting data because the universities followed different modelsand lacked comparable data sets.
The researchers worked for three years to produce the ranking which Hung saidwas intended for public reference, but he added that he hoped Vietnam’s universitieswould use them to guide improvements.-VNA
VNA
