A credit-based system is considered the best university model, however, schools, students and society have not gotten used to the new plan, even though it first appeared in Vietnam 15 years ago.

According to Le Van Khuyen, former Deputy Director of the University Education Department under the Ministry of Education and Training, under the school-year based plan, only one lecturer is needed for a major, but the credit-based training scheme requires two lecturers for a major.

Training under the credit-based scheme means a student-centered training method, under which students have the right to choose suitable lecturers and schedules. Meanwhile, most universities cannot meet their requirements, because of the lack of lecturers and facilities.

According to the Deputy President of a big university in Hanoi, in foreign countries, several hundreds of students can gather in the same lecture hall to listen to the lectures of famous professors. However, in discussion or practice hours, there are only 20-30 students at maximum. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, students are always put into one large classroom.

The lack of material facilities has brought troubles for lecturers and students. Students of Hanoi Economics University, for example, must cool their heels for the whole night to register online. Since there are not enough lecturers and classrooms, the students who are not quick to register, will not be able to land the classes they want.

Nguyen Quang Dong, Head of the Training Division of the university, admitted that the school cannot meet demand, because of limited classrooms and lecturers. “The budget for training is still scanty, which is not big enough to cover all kinds of expenses. Therefore, we cannot think of recruiting more lecturers at this moment,” he admitted.

The most significant obstacle to the credit-based plan, according to educators, is management. According to Ngo The Chi, the Ministry of Education and Training requires schools to follow a credit-based program, but management has not changed. For example, under the credit-based system, students enroll every semester, but, at present, students are still enrolled every school year.

The plan also requires schools to have very qualified administrative officers and managers, but they still have no such workforce.

According to Professor Dr. Nguyen Huu Viet Hung from Hanoi National University, in the US, managemers and administrators are trained very well, while in Vietnam, anyone can take this job.

Khuyen pointed out that, under the credit-based system, study advisors play a very important role. The advisors have the responsibility to support students in selecting suitable study plans. If any student does not have good grades after the first semester, the advisors should warn student and give them guidance for improvement. Yet higher education institutions in Vietnam do not have such staff, so many students have been forced to quit after their first year.

Source: Tien phong