Infrastructure and learning facilities at many of the country's publicuniversities and colleges have been discovered to be severely low inquality in a recent nationwide survey.
The Ministry ofEducation and Training's survey, which was carried out for the firsttime at 196 educational establishments, revealed that only one libraryseat is available for every 21 students at public universities andcolleges in Vietnam, and many public higher education institutions tonot even have a library to facilitate studies, the survey released onOct. 25 reported.
It also revealed that 24 lacked a library altogether and 119 did not provide their students access to e-libraries.
Additionally, the quality of e-libraries was revealed to be inadequateand ineffective. Only 16.9 percent of the e-libraries were connectedwith other libraries and as many as 175 students had to share acomputer.
The survey found that a shortage of land area,and inadequate training facilities and functional areas for educationalpursuits were common.
On average, area available per student was about 35.7sq.m, far from the current standards of 55 to 85sq.m.
Students only had about 3.6sq.m of study area available, less than halfof the national standard and three times lower than that in developedcountries.
On average, total land area of each universityand college was reported to be under 10 hectares. Only 20 percent of the850,000 students in these educational establishments were able to stayin dormitories because there is simply not enough room.
Only 15.5 percent of laboratories met research and study requirementsfor teachers and students. Nearly 50 percent were reported to beoutdated while only 1.4 percent met the same quality standards asinternational schools.
Tran Thanh Binh, director of theInstitute for Research and Design of Schools, said the growing studentpopulation and the rapid increase in the number of educationalestablishments were the main reasons for the limited land funds.
For example, the number of students has increased by 135 percent in thepast five years while the land fund has remained unchanged.
Binh said most existing universities were established on sites of lessthan 10 hectares and 15 universities hovered just below or just aboveone hectare. This has led to a substandard educational environment atthese universities.
Le Hong Can, vice rector of Hong DucPrivate University in central Thanh Hoa province said there shouldbe a policy to prioritise the construction of university facilities.
Vice head of the Ministry of Finance's State Budget Department NguyenTruong Giang said the schools should mobilise investment sources frombusinesses or the community to develop infrastructure.
Giang said one-fifth of the State budget was spent on the educationalsector, with 10 percent of that going to higher education.
That percentage is expected to increase to 12 to 14 percent in the upcoming years, he said.
Giang said the schools should be re-classified according to nationalstandards and that low-quality institutions should be merged together toavoid ineffective and scattered investment./.
The Ministry ofEducation and Training's survey, which was carried out for the firsttime at 196 educational establishments, revealed that only one libraryseat is available for every 21 students at public universities andcolleges in Vietnam, and many public higher education institutions tonot even have a library to facilitate studies, the survey released onOct. 25 reported.
It also revealed that 24 lacked a library altogether and 119 did not provide their students access to e-libraries.
Additionally, the quality of e-libraries was revealed to be inadequateand ineffective. Only 16.9 percent of the e-libraries were connectedwith other libraries and as many as 175 students had to share acomputer.
The survey found that a shortage of land area,and inadequate training facilities and functional areas for educationalpursuits were common.
On average, area available per student was about 35.7sq.m, far from the current standards of 55 to 85sq.m.
Students only had about 3.6sq.m of study area available, less than halfof the national standard and three times lower than that in developedcountries.
On average, total land area of each universityand college was reported to be under 10 hectares. Only 20 percent of the850,000 students in these educational establishments were able to stayin dormitories because there is simply not enough room.
Only 15.5 percent of laboratories met research and study requirementsfor teachers and students. Nearly 50 percent were reported to beoutdated while only 1.4 percent met the same quality standards asinternational schools.
Tran Thanh Binh, director of theInstitute for Research and Design of Schools, said the growing studentpopulation and the rapid increase in the number of educationalestablishments were the main reasons for the limited land funds.
For example, the number of students has increased by 135 percent in thepast five years while the land fund has remained unchanged.
Binh said most existing universities were established on sites of lessthan 10 hectares and 15 universities hovered just below or just aboveone hectare. This has led to a substandard educational environment atthese universities.
Le Hong Can, vice rector of Hong DucPrivate University in central Thanh Hoa province said there shouldbe a policy to prioritise the construction of university facilities.
Vice head of the Ministry of Finance's State Budget Department NguyenTruong Giang said the schools should mobilise investment sources frombusinesses or the community to develop infrastructure.
Giang said one-fifth of the State budget was spent on the educationalsector, with 10 percent of that going to higher education.
That percentage is expected to increase to 12 to 14 percent in the upcoming years, he said.
Giang said the schools should be re-classified according to nationalstandards and that low-quality institutions should be merged together toavoid ineffective and scattered investment./.
