On July 19, the Association of Vietnam Universities and Colleges held its first-term(2014 - 2019) standing committee meeting to plan second term (2019 - 2024) activities at DTU. State management agencies took record of comments and suggestions made by the Association on High School Graduation exam issues, notably the elimination of the “three-common” exam and floor grades.
Many comments were made
Association Vice-Chairman Associate Professor Tran Xuan Nhi presented a draft of the general report on Association activities in the first term (2014 - 2019), and a plan for the second term (2019 - 2024). It reassesses the activities of the Association during the first term.
The first term standing committee meeting of the Association of Vietnam Universities and Colleges. Photo: TT
“The Association has important consulting and reviewing responsibilities.” said Associate Professor Nhi. “We focus on the most basic issues, with the following purposes: to inform and encourage member schools to earnestly and completely implement Party and State guidelines and policies; to support legitimate plans and protect the rights of member schools and the Association; to contribute opinions and propose solutions to remove obstacles for policies to be applied effectively and review existing policies when Party and State management agencies require it.”
More specifically, about the organization of High School Graduation Exam and enrollment, the Association proposed to do away with the “three-common” exam and floor grades and to allow universities and colleges enrollment autonomy. It also filed propositions on the basic structure of national education and on strengthening and realizing autonomy of medicine and pedagogy colleges. All propositions and opinions from the Association were noted and used by Party and State management agencies.
The Association furthermore successfully organized many scientific conferences and seminars of national scope and quality. All the big conferences were co-organized by relevant ministries or national-level agencies and were attended by deputy prime ministers, who gave speeches with their opinions and guidance. It is based on the results of these conferences and seminars that the comments and suggestions of the Association reached the quality they did.
As an example, in 2017 the Association together with Hoa Binh University and the Institute of Educational Quality Assessment (of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations) bid for a national science project.
This project is currently being implemented, and the required schedule and quality are being strived for.
Contributing even more to education
The conference also aimed at planning the coming term. “Based on the achievements we obtained and on overcoming the shortcomings of the first term,” Assoc.Prof. Nhi said.
Association Chairman Prof. Tran Hong Quan explaining the development plans of the Association. Photo: TT
“The plans and programs of the Association must be drawn up in a practical and reasonable fashion, including a select number of key issues in university education and focusing resources on research towards solutions.
“Members must be encouraged to take part in programs, projects, research, consultancy, review, and social assessment according to the advice of relevant state agencies.
“Focus must be on basic and important solutions to continue innovating education and make it highly efficient, which means promoting the realization of university autonomy.”
The Association will also continue research and petition the relevant Party and State agencies to amend the relevant legal provisions and clarification clauses which hinder or slow down the realization of university autonomy.
Organizational restructuring, appropriate staff, lean management and functional departments with enthusiastic, dedicated, and highly responsible people with experience in education management, a mind towards innovation, and time for a hands-on approach for professional and efficient activities.
Organizing scientific conferences and exchange seminars, and obtaining ideas for relevant laws and clarification clauses, such as the decree guiding the implementation of the amended Education Law; the law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Higher Education Law, and the decree guiding the implementation of the unified state management of education.
Association Chairman Prof. Tran Hong Quan explained that, in the next term, they would invite people passionate about a career in education to join the Association, and consider it an important forum contributing to education.
In addition, it is also necessary to attract youth to the Association, to operate more effectively and achieve a more important role. In the future, the Association will constructively promote its role of an educational policy reviewer.
FPT University Board of Trustees Chairman Dr Le Truong Tung also voiced his high appreciation of the contributions of the Association to the development of universities and colleges, and he shared his plans for the financial development of the Association.
(Media Center)