The Ministry of Education and Training will veto any plan on the set up of a new university from now to 2020, said Deputy Minister Bui Van Ga.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga

Speaking at a meeting to seek ways to save private universities, held with representatives from the Vietnam Private Universities Association (VIPUA) on March 5, the deputy minister said a number of universities would have to merge to improve their operations and meet enrollment quotas.

“The ministry must reconsider the goal of increasing student numbers by 450 for every 10,000 and focus their expansion efforts on methods in line with the Party Central Committee's Resolution No.2,” he added.

Some analysts have pointed out that the establishment of too many schools, as well as upgrades of colleges into universities has led to the current problem, and that many schools, especially private universities, have been failing to meet their enrollment quotas.

By the end of 2012, Vietnam had 81 private colleges and universities, accounting for 14% of graduates. Few of them achieved their enrollment quotas, with most reaching between 30% and 60% of their targets. Many fell even shorter.

Regarding the VIPUA’s proposal on removing mandatory requirements for university entrance exams in order to increase the number of students in private universities, Deputy Minister Bui Van Ga said that the ministry was working on a decree on the classification of universities. The decree would allow universities to issue their own entrance requirements.

The ministry also rejected the association’s proposal on merging the high school graduation exam with university entrance exam. The association said that this would have helped potential students by saving on exam fees.

The deputy minister said that such a move would have to be carefully considered and would not be possible to implement this year.

“After 2015, when the quality of the high school graduation exam is improved and the curriculum is reformed, the ministry may consider allowing some universities to use their own guidelines for entrance requirements," he stated.

According to Deputy Minister Ga, the ministry will make a proposal to the government and the Ministry of Finance that, if approved, would offer a preferential corporate income tax of 10% to all private universities. Currently the tax rate for private universities is 25%, with the exception of those that can offer a space of 55 square metres per student, who already get the 10% preferential rate.