Education Ministry’s university plan a burden to accreditation organizations

Accreditation organizations say that accrediting 35 percent of universities and 10 percent of junior colleges by the end of 2017 is a huge task.



MOET has decided that 35 percent of total universities and 10 percent of pedagogical junior colleges in Vietnam must be accredited by the end of this year.

The ministry hopes that 100 percent of schools will be accredited by 2020. The results will be made public.

Some analysts have said they don’t believe the goal is attainable and if the accreditation is completed, the quality will be dubious. With current resources, it is impractical to set up such an ambitious plan.

The four accreditation centers include one under Hanoi National University, HCMC National University and Da Nang University and one belonging to the Vietnam Association of Universities and Junior Colleges.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has nearly 270 universities, including five foreign invested schools. The schools belonging to the Ministry of National Defence and Ministry of Public Security need assessments based on specific requirements.

Accreditation centers have given quality assessment to 30 schools, which means that to fulfill the MOET’s plan, they will need to give accreditation to another 50 schools by the end of the year, not including pedagogical junior colleges (3-year training) which produce teachers for preschools, primary and secondary schools.

According to Nguyen Hoi Nghia, director of the HCMC National University’s Accreditation Center, it takes 6-9 months on average to do work on one school.

The numbers of accreditors required will depend on schools’ number of students, training majors, organization structure and infrastructure conditions. On average, it  needs five to seven specialists. In addition, the schools to be assessed will need to provide officers that serve management and logistics.

As such, Nghia admitted the goal set by MOET was relatively high compared with the accreditation speed of the four accreditation centers the last time.

The number of schools ready to undergo accreditation this year may be lower than planned, so the target of 35 percent is set for everyone.

“From 2018 onwards, MOET will apply the new set of standards for assessment, which will be more reasonable and practical,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Duc Nghia, an accreditor of the HCMC National University’s Accreditation Center, said the plan would still be fulfilled if all the four centers work at full capacity. However, he thinks that not all four centers have sufficient resources, while the number of licensed accreditors is still limited.

“Most accreditors hold more than one office, and do not focus on accreditation. Therefore, it will be not easy to gather resources,” he explained.

Thanh Lich / vietnamnet