Hanoi (VNA) - Prejudice and legal regulations cause major difficultiesfor non-State universities in Vietnam, chairwoman of the management board ofHanoi-based Thang Long University Hoang Xuan Sinh said.

Speaking at the conference on the current situation and solutions for non-Stateuniversities and colleges on December 22, Sinh said that although the firstnon-State universities were opened in Vietnam over 20 years ago and theycontributed to the country in providing better human resources, people werestill prejudiced against non-State universities.

“When it comes to non-State universities and colleges, people usually supposethat they enroll students with poor performance, deliver poor training servicequality but with tuition fees much higher than public ones,” he said.

Graduates from non-State universities faced increased employer discrimination,he said.

Moreover, the current Law on Higher Education contained regulations thathindered the development of non-State universities.

For example, a regulation requires the Management Board of a non-Stateuniversity to have one member who is a representative of authority of thelocality where the university is based.

Meanwhile, non-State universities are overseen by ministries and agencies atprovincial and city levels.

The then Prime Minister Phan Van Khai’s Decision 14/2005/QD-Ttg dated 2005regulated that investors must ensure investment of at least 15 billion VND (660,000USD) and average space of 10sq.m per student in order to open a privateuniversity.

The requirements are stricter as according to Decision 64/2013/QD-TTg dated2013, the investment increased to 250 billion VND (11 million USD) not includingcriteria on space for school infrastructure.

Chairman of FPT University Le Truong Tung said that Government’s control fornon-State universities was tightened in response to public concerns over thepoor quality of enrollment and training by some non-State universities.

The Government tightened control as there were complaints that the number ofnon-State universities was increasing exponentially, but they were not, hesaid.

In the last 15 years, 43 non-State universities were opened while the number ofpublic ones was 2.6 times higher.         

Principal of Hanoi University of Business and Technology, Tran Phuong, saidthat Non-State universities are burdened by a number of pressures includingfinance, land funds, teaching facilities and staff.

While public universities are partially subsidised by operation funds,non-State universities have to manage on their own.

Phuong said that the Government should offer assistance to privateuniversities, at least granting land or exempting them from land-use fees andland lease to build schools.

He said that Vietnam now spent about 20 percent of its budget on education andthe rate would hardly increase as the country is tightening its belt.

“It’s indispensable for the Government to attract and engage the private sectormore in education for the further development of the sector,” he said.-VNA