Immediately after President Ho Chi Minh signed the Decree (October 10, 1945) establishing the University of Literature, university education managers demonstrated a timely grasp of the training trends of the times and knew how to absorb them step by step to effectively apply them to the country's reality when the August Revolution had just succeeded. That can be clearly seen through the Decree.
(1)November 3, 1945 of the Ministry of National Education on regulations on training programs and training methods at the University of Literature
(3)On the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the founding of the University of Letters in Hanoi, we try to sketch out the ideology of university education at that time with a vision of integration and the significance of that ideology for today.
1. Training program
At this time, the training program was determined to have 10 most basic subjects, so it was very concise. Specifically: - Eastern Philosophy - Western Philosophy - Society and Anthropology - Vietnamese Literature in Vietnamese and Chinese - Chinese Literature from ancient times to the Tang Dynasty - Chinese Literature from the Song Dynasty to the present - Western Literature - Eastern and Western History from ancient times to the 13th century - Eastern and Western History from the 13th century to the present - Geography To take the graduation exam in 4 of the 10 subjects above to get a Bachelor of Arts degree (today's bachelor's degree), students must have a high school diploma and must study at the University of Arts for at least 3 years. In the first year, they study 2 subjects, without taking the exam; in the second year, they study 2 subjects, taking the exam in 2 subjects they studied in the first year; In the third year, students take exams in 2 subjects in the second year. If they fail the exam, they are allowed to retake it. These are the 4 graduation exams, so in addition to listening to one or two topics, students must also research other topics of the subject to serve the exam for that subject. In addition, the above subjects are structured for 4 majors. Graduating from one of these four majors will receive a Bachelor of Literature degree and be assigned to teach in high schools: * Bachelor of Philosophy degree Graduating from this major, students must study and take exams in 4 subjects: Eastern Philosophy; Western Philosophy; Sociology and Anthropology; and one subject of either History, or Sinology, Literature, or Western Literature. * Bachelor of Vietnamese Studies degree Graduating from this major, students must study and take exams in 4 subjects: Vietnamese Literature in Vietnamese and Chinese; East-West History from ancient times to the 13th century; East-West History from the 13th century to the present; and one subject or Sinology, or Philosophy, or Western Literature * Sinology major for university graduates Graduating from this major, students must study and take exams in 4 subjects: Chinese Literature from ancient times to the Tang Dynasty; China from the Song Dynasty to the present; Vietnamese Literature in Vietnamese and Chinese; and one subject or History, or Philosophy, or Western Literature * History and Geography major for university graduates Graduating from this major, students must study and take exams in 4 subjects: History of East and West from ancient times to the 13th century; History of East and West from the 13th century to the present; Geography; and one subject or Sinology, or Philosophy, or Sociology and Anthropology. The degree of Literature major for university graduates or Literature major for university graduates clearly states the subjects they have taken the graduation exam. Those who have one of the two types of degrees above can continue studying to take the exam for a Doctor of Literature degree (today's doctorate). The above program was initially planned to be implemented in 3 years (1945-1946; 1046-1947; 1947-1948). By the 1948-1949 school year, one-third of the program was changed; in the 1949-1950 school year, another third was changed; in the 1950-1951 school year, the remaining third was changed, and so on, constantly renewing the training program. Thus, the policy of renewing one-third of the program each year was a mindset that accelerated the approach and updating of new knowledge in accordance with the urgent requirements of nation building. Unfortunately, the resistance war against French colonialism broke out, and the university training program in literature had to be suspended.
2. Training method
a/ Role of lecturers - The professor in charge of the subject agrees on the subject content with the Director of the Faculty of Arts and then submits it to the Director of the University Department for approval. This regulation affirms the personal rights and responsibilities of the direct lecturer, especially the subject professor's expertise is respected. - Each year, the professor in charge of the subject only chooses one or two topics to teach and determines a number of topics for students to research on their own. As for other topics of the subject, students can search for them themselves, if they intend to take the exam in that subject. Thus, the lecturer does not have to teach all the topics of the subject, but creates opportunities for students to research, explore on their own, and if they want to take the exam in a certain subject, they must also research more deeply and broadly. Obviously, the training mechanism has emphasized the initiative and self-study of students. The teacher only has a guiding role. b/ Regulations for students - Students register at the Faculty of Arts and submit a Birth Certificate to confirm that they are 18 years old by October 30, 1945. Students who want to take the exam to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree must submit a High School Diploma. This mechanism allows young people who do not have a high school diploma but are 18 years old and want to study at the Faculty of Arts to broaden their knowledge to still be accepted. - Students study under the guidance of professors for at least two years in each subject. However, if they want to take the exam to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree (in one of the four majors in the above program), they must study for at least three years. c/ Examination regime at university level - Students are not required to take all the subjects they like to study, but only have to take the four graduation subjects or the graduation subjects according to the above majors. Students who plan to take a graduation exam for a subject, in addition to listening to the professor of that subject lecture on one or two topics and conducting research on topics suggested by the professor, must also conduct research on other topics of that subject. - Each graduation exam consists of the following steps: + Written exam: 2 essays, if the average of the 2 subjects reaches 50% of the required score, they will be allowed to take the oral exam. + Oral exam: Answer 2 questions about issues related to the program and lecture on an issue in the program (speaking for 20 minutes, preparing for 2 hours). Achieving 50% of the required score will be recognized as having graduated from that subject. - To be awarded a university degree, in addition to the 4 exams, students must take a foreign language exam, as determined by the University's Faculty of Literature Professor Council, which foreign languages students can choose to take. d/ Regulations on doctoral training - Those who have a Bachelor of Arts degree or a Bachelor of Arts degree are allowed to continue studying to take the exam for a Doctor of Arts degree (today's doctorate). - Students (now called graduate students) must register 2 research topics and have them approved by the University's Faculty of Arts Professors before being registered in the School's register (to avoid being chosen by later people). During the research process, students have the right to change to another topic for research. - Students must present 2 printed theses to the University's Faculty of Arts and report those 2 theses to the Board of Examiners. The first thesis must be a research thesis in one of the following fields: Philosophy, Literature, Sociology, History or Geography. The second thesis may also be a study of a philosophical or literary issue, or sociology, or history, or geography, or a translation and explanation of a publication or a document in Chinese or Vietnamese printed before the 19th century in Vietnam or China. - These two theses must be submitted to the Director of the University's Faculty of Letters. The Director assigns one or two specialized professors to review whether they are qualified for defense or not. If qualified, the Director will request the Director of the University's Department of Education to sign a license to print the thesis. - Students must submit 60 copies of each thesis to the University's Faculty of Letters. The Director of the University's Faculty of Letters signs the Decision to establish an Examination Board for both theses, consisting of 5 to 7 specialized professors and a number of specialists who are not professors of the school, after the University's Council of Professors has agreed. e/ Regulations on master's training The University of Arts can grant a master's degree in Arts to candidates regardless of age if they register in the school's register at least 6 months before the exam and can take the master's degree exam in one of the following 3 majors: - Master's in Philosophy: Candidates must perform the following tasks: + Submit a research thesis on a problem related to Philosophy or Sociology or Anthropology and be accepted by the University's Faculty of Arts Professors Council at least 6 months before the exam. + Respond to the Council on the problem chosen for the thesis + Explain and discuss a passage of a philosopher, sociologist, or anthropologist that the University will inform the candidate 3 months in advance. - Master's in History and Geography Candidates must perform the following tasks: + Submit a thesis on a problem of history or geography chosen by the candidate and approved by the University's Faculty of Arts Professors Council 6 months before the exam. + Discuss a historical or geographical issue chosen by the candidate 3 months in advance and approved by the University. However, the issue to be presented must be outside the historical or geographical time period compared to the topic chosen for the thesis. + Answer a question about geography or additional subjects of history (antiquities, epigraphy, literature) of the candidate's choice and approved by the University 3 months before the exam. - Master's degree in literature Candidates must perform the following tasks: + Present a research thesis on a literary issue chosen by the candidate and approved by the University's Council of Professors 6 months before the exam. + Candidates must explain and discuss a long passage of Chinese, Vietnamese, or European-American literature chosen by the candidate and approved by the University 3 months before the exam. + Answer a question about historical literature chosen by the candidate and approved by the University 3 months before the exam. Thus, the method of granting master's degrees is mainly based on the self-selection of specialized fields for self-study and taking exams, without any attendance at lectures. The issue of training management is reflected in the thesis topic proposal must be approved by the Council of Professors at least 6 months before the exam; issues related to the exam content chosen by the candidate must be approved by the University 3 months before the exam.
3. Some thoughts
Studying the training program and training methods of the University of Literature 65 years ago, we have the following thoughts: - Although the Revolution had just succeeded, President Ho Chi Minh had cleverly chosen people with enough talent, virtue, and knowledge to update the educational trends of the times. Due to the country's situation at that time regarding resources (facilities, finance, human resources, etc.), the new training program was limited to the most basic subjects and importantly, there was a team of professors capable of implementing it.
(3), not setting up subjects that do not have the conditions to teach. - The university education ideology of the University of Literature 65 years ago emphasized the role of teachers in determining the topics to be taught, the main responsibility is to guide students in their studies. At the same time, students are autonomous in determining their majors while studying and the learning mechanism creates high self-awareness for students, self-determining their own study plans and roadmaps, truly mastering the learning process, not having to bear the pressure of the training program. Now the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has changed the training method from the year system to the credit system, creating opportunities for students to proactively build their own learning roadmap, and can finish their university studies early or late depending on their own abilities and conditions. However, it seems that the total number of credits that students need to accumulate in a major is still large. Should we continue to research to integrate first of all the basic subjects to reduce the current credit load so that students have time to self-study the specialized issues they pursue. Of course, students' self-study activities need guidance and support from the department and academic advisors. - The doctoral and master's training program and process at the University of Letters further affirm the high autonomy of the learners. There is no study program for those doing doctoral and master's degrees. The learners are proposed research topics, exam specialties and approved by the school. Then comes the process of self-study by the learners, and finally the defense and oral exam before the Examination Council. Now our postgraduate training process requires learners who want to have a doctoral degree to study through the master's stage. However, the graduate program is still heavy, there are directly related topics, there are topics that only expand knowledge, Therefore, students still spend a lot of time pursuing a system of topics in class, have little time for research, in addition, most of them are civil servants, so they still have to complete the work of the agency. Perhaps it is necessary to research to integrate possible topics into one and reduce the number of credits, or in the system of graduate topics, it is necessary to determine the topics that need to be taught in class, the rest are for lecturers to guide graduate students to research and submit a harvest report. __________
Note
(1)Source: Vietnam Republic Official Gazette. No. 9, November 17, 1945
(2)In Decree 45, dated October 10, 1945, Article 1 stated “Now establish a University of Literature in Hanoi”, but the word “school” was crossed out and the word “ban” was written above it. It is unclear whether President Ho Chi Minh replaced the word “ban” with the word “school” and signed it without retyping the Decree (this was probably not in line with his style, or the circumstances at that time required simplicity???). The Official Gazette also published “ban” (see Vietnam National Gazette, No. 4, dated October 20, 1945). One problem is that the documents issued by the Ministry of National Education (QGGD) after Decree 45 were all written as “University of Literature”. For example: In the Decree dated November 3, 1945, Article 1 stated: “The Hanoi University of Letters will teach the following subjects: Oriental Philosophy, Western Philosophy…”. This Decree also clearly states that students who want to be awarded a Bachelor of Letters or Doctor of Letters (PhD) by the University of Letters must pursue a study and research program. (See: Vietnam National Gazette No. 9, November 17, 1945). Or another Decree of the Ministry of National Education signed on the same day November 3, 1945, also published in Gazette No. 9, November 17, 1945, Article 1 stated: “Open at the University a College class to teach subjects related to politics and sociology… This class is temporarily dependent on the University of Letters, and is supervised by a General Secretary”. From there, a question arises, if President Ho Chi Minh signed the Faculty of Letters, why did the Ministry of National Education later issue decrees calling it a school? Is it possible that the Faculty is not qualified to grant degrees from bachelor to doctorate like the school or is it not Uncle Ho's intention to replace the word "school" with the word "ban"? Let me write down a few concerns...
(3)Based on the opinion of the Government Council, the Minister of National Education signed a Decree to appoint 25 professors to teach at the University of Literature, including professors and intellectuals such as: Dang Thai Mai, Dao Duy Anh, Cao Xuan Huy, Nguyen Van Huyen, Nguyen Duc Nguyen, Nguyen Manh Tuong, Tran Van Giap, Cu Huy Can, Ngo Xuan Dieu, Tran Khanh Giu, Pham Duy Khiem, Bui Ki, Nguyen Dinh Thi, Doan Phu Tu... In particular, participating in teaching the socio-political class were President Ho Chi Minh and comrade Pham Van Dong teaching the constitutional science, comrade Vo Nguyen Giap teaching the economics science.
