The Ministry of Education and Training is seeking feedback on the draft amended Law on Higher Education. The draft law stipulates that the State will support higher education institutions in developing their teaching staff and attracting professors, associate professors, doctors, and highly qualified scientists. Compensation will be commensurate with each position and title.
Universities will also have autonomy in appointing management positions, utilizing domestic and international scientists, including Vietnamese scientists living abroad. They will also have the right to valuate, own, exploit, and distribute benefits from research results according to internal regulations and legal provisions.
The draft law empowers universities to establish research organizations, innovation centers, and science and technology enterprises; develop research groups and utilize legal resources for these activities. Universities are permitted to cooperate in research domestically and internationally; attract experts, scientists, and overseas Vietnamese to participate in training; build research and technology transfer networks linked to training; and develop scientific information systems, specialized journals, and intellectual property.
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Semiconductor laboratory, Research and Development Center, Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park, 12/2024. Photo: Hoang Phong |
Semiconductor laboratory, Research and Development Center, Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park, 12/2024. Photo: Hoang Phong
The Ministry of Education and Training hopes the draft law will enhance the scientific research capacity of lecturers and expand the scale and quality of doctoral training in key fields. Higher education is oriented to become the center of the national innovation ecosystem, closely linking universities, businesses, and localities.
Allowing universities to proactively hire leading lecturers and scientists, along with a compensation mechanism linked to research effectiveness, is considered by the Ministry to be a necessary condition for promoting autonomy.
As Vietnam faces a potential shortage of science and technology personnel, the Government has assigned the Ministry of Science and Technology to develop a project on utilizing talent, to be submitted to the Prime Minister in September. According to the Ministry of Education and Training, in 2024, only 9% and 12% of students enrolled in Engineering and Technology, and Computer Science and Information Technology programs, respectively.
Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung emphasized that talent is the key factor for Vietnam to make breakthroughs in the era based on science, technology, and innovation. He believes that human intellect is truly revealed when facing great challenges, and these "great tasks" will be magnets for attracting talent.
To achieve this, the State will create an open environment where new models are tested, creative ideas are accepted with risks, and talented individuals are free to demonstrate their abilities.
Son Ha
