The Hanoi Teacher Training University.

The proposal – signed by Deputy Construction Minister Tran Ngoc Chinh last Friday – is intended to meet the short-term national demand for education and training and long-term international integration.

The Ministries of Construction, and Education and Training would jointly manage its implementation.

The proposal, now with PM Nguyen Tan Dung for appraisal, aims to meet the demand for modern infrastructure; provide educated personnel for the northern economic zone and link education and training with scientific research and society.

Some universities and other tertiary institutions would be moved out of the inner city or upgraded to ensure a minimum of 65squ.m for each student.

But not all city-centre institutions would be relocated.

The ministry would assess the infrastructure of all concerned institutions; their standard of teaching; disciplines and quality to set a criteria for any transfers.

The universities, other tertiary insitututions and relevant agencies would be asked to contribute to the criteria for selecting institutions that would be either transferred or upgraded.

The proposal includes Ha Noi and Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Ha Nam and Hoa Binh provinces.

Tertiary institutions would be consolidated into zones and the Construction Ministry also suggests the selection of precincts suitable for scientific research centres of regional and global standards.

Relocation must harmonise with development of the capital and the country’s infrastructure, says the proposal.

“The relocation is complicated because it depends on city planning,” says an official the Construction Ministry’s Architecture and Planning Department. “Universities are part of the city so its planning is part of city planning.”

The construction ministry is ready to begin research for the proposal titled “Planning Universities and Tertiary Institutions Capital Zone to 2025 with a Vision to 2050″ immediately one Prime Ministerial approval is given.

The research is expected to take nine months.

The Institute of Architecture, Urban and Rural Planning and the Institute for Research and Design of Schools would have responsibility for the planning.

It is estimated that about 1.7 million of students will study at 92 institutions standing on more than 13,000ha by 2015.

The number is forecast to rise to 1.8 million students; 96 institutions and 15,000ha in 10 years.

Relocate universities

The HCM City Party Committee has instructed the city’s National University to make plans to build campus dormitories capable of accommodating 30,000 students for the next academic year.

The Party Committee has also asked the municipal administration to co-ordinate and instruct related agencies to make plans for relocating some universities, colleges and vocational schools from the city to areas designated by the government for the purpose.

Funds for these projects are to be drawn from localities where students of the university come from, as well as from capital sourced from the government’s stimulus package and issue of bonds.

Towards this, the Party Committee has proposed to the central government that it allows the city to use capital from the stimulus package and bond issues for land compensation and relocation expenses; and for investment in building universities, colleges, vocational schools and dormitories in the designated areas.

VietNamNet/VNS