The need for a more correct understanding of the role of Vietnamese Social Sciences and Humanities is the issue that the most focused opinions of professors and scientists from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities expressed at the working session with Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan on February 27, 2013. The direct and frank opinions exchanged by the Minister and teachers were related to many issues: innovation in education and training, policies for teachers; decentralization of university education management, solutions to build and develop the Social Sciences and Humanities sector in the current context...In the report on the construction and development of the University in recent times, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh - Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities said: Last year was a very successful year for the University in the field of scientific research. The University successfully bid for 09 State-level topics, implemented 10 Nafosted Fund topics, and dozens of other topics at other levels. The University also successfully organized more than 30 domestic and international seminars and conferences; published more than 600 articles, including more than 30 international scientific articles; 05 teachers were honored to receive the Ho Chi Minh and State awards for Science and Technology. Regarding training, the University has constantly improved the quality of training in all systems, made many strong changes in innovation in teaching and learning activities, successfully adjusted 23 training programs at the university level and 52 training programs at the postgraduate level, and continued to open many more majors and training majors to serve social needs. In order to create conditions for the University to make greater contributions, worthy of its position and assigned mission, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities also proposes: Firstly, the Ministry should soon submit documents to the Government to promulgate regulations on the operation of VNU, including provisions on autonomy and self-responsibility related to the University of Social Sciences and Humanities as well as member schools of VNU; Secondly, the Ministry should soon approve the inclusion of a number of pilot training majors and specialties that have proven their effectiveness and quality through practical training at the University into the official list of major codes of the State. Thirdly, the Ministry should soon consider authorizing the University or VNU to approve international joint training programs to mobilize domestic and international resources to develop a number of pioneering majors on the basis of cooperation with reputable and trustworthy partners. Fourthly, it is recommended that the Ministry assign the University to take the lead in organizing and implementing Project 911 and prepare the necessary conditions to send PhD students in the fields of social sciences and humanities to study and conduct research abroad. Fifthly, it is recommended that the Ministry support and assign the University to focus resources on building and developing the University of Social Sciences and Humanities to truly become a leading national center in research and training in social sciences and humanities; with a mechanism to support the basic sciences and humanities, which are the University's strengths in training scientists, experts and high-quality human resources. Sixthly, it is recommended that the Ministry and relevant agencies assign the University to preside over or participate in building and implementing a number of research programs and projects, with the focus in the coming time being the Social Sciences and Humanities program and the East Sea program.
At the meeting, the professors proposed to the Minister many solutions related to the need to build a correct awareness of the position and role of social sciences and humanities in today's society as well as the need for positive policies to support, promote the development and contribution of the sector to the overall development of the country. Prof. Dr. Vu Duong Ninh said that the biggest challenge of social sciences and humanities is the incorrect awareness of the mission, role and position of social sciences and humanities in today's society. Social sciences and humanities have not been recognized and evaluated correctly for their value and importance to society. And "this is a risk to the survival of the nation" - Prof. Dr. Ninh affirmed. Prof. Dr. Ha Minh Duc said: Social sciences and humanities must be considered a valuable asset of the country, not just a matter of a scientific field. There are many issues of social sciences and humanities that need to be solved that we can see every day in society: ethics, discipline in education, national sovereignty, social psychology, preservation of cultural values... And it seems that the continuity and succession in Vietnamese social sciences and humanities have not received due attention. The team of social sciences and humanities staff also faces many difficulties in life, affecting their love for the profession. Professor Dinh Van Duc recommends: The State needs to urgently have a specific mechanism to support the development of social sciences and humanities, support social sciences and humanities scientists to publish research works, and have appropriate policies on salaries and income to ensure the lives of scientists. Considering that scientific research is a weakness of Vietnamese universities today, Professor Duc suggests that the Ministry should promote many feasible solutions to improve this situation. In addition, some other opinions discussed the autonomy of universities, decentralization of management of joint training programs, regulations on opening pilot training programs, textbooks in training, promoting research activities at universities...
Appreciating the enthusiastic speeches of the teachers, Minister Pham Vu Luan expressed his satisfaction with the results obtained at the working session. The Minister said: “The first working trip of the new year to the University is to send a message of appreciation to the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - a leading training center in Social Sciences and Humanities, a prestigious university and postgraduate training institution in Vietnam's higher education, receiving the trust of many universities in the region and the world. In the coming time, there needs to be closer coordination between the University, VNU and the Ministry for the development of VNU, its member units as well as the education and training sector”. Talking with the teachers, the Minister said that starting from 2012 and more drastically from 2013, the entire education sector will promote the transformation of the development model from one based on quantity and scale to one based on quality and efficiency. In addition, implementing the Prime Minister's directive, the education sector also continues to innovate management throughout the sector in the direction of: eliminating asking and giving, increasing the initiative and self-responsibility of training institutions. State management of the Ministry and departments with professional management of principals will be decentralized and clearly separated. The activities of the Ministry aim to serve the right and favorable development of schools, contributing to inspection, correction and handling of violations. Regarding learning from foreign educational management experiences, the Minister expressed the view that it is not only necessary to grasp information about what foreign countries do, but also to understand why they do so, because all those policies must be linked to the specific economic, cultural and social characteristics of each country. There are good policies in other countries but when applied to Vietnam, they are not successful. Regarding the development of operating regulations for member universities of national and regional universities, the Ministry believes that it is necessary to ensure that these schools have autonomy and self-responsibility at least equal to other major universities under the Ministry. Regarding international joint training programs, the Ministry will not directly approve or manage them, but will only provide criteria for schools to base on for implementation. The Ministry will only be responsible for inspecting and examining this work. Regarding Project 911, the Minister acknowledged that the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has been and will continue to be an important professional focal point advising and consulting the Ministry. Affirming the State's special attention to Social Sciences and Humanities in the current context, the Minister said that he will accept all ideas, feelings, including worries and concerns of teachers regarding the above-mentioned shortcomings. These profound and valuable opinions will help the Ministry have specific thoughts and considerations to propose specific mechanisms to bring about worthy and appropriate development for the Vietnamese social sciences and humanities sector.
Also at the meeting, Associate Professor Dr. Phung Xuan Nha - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, President of VNU - expressed VNU's support and agreement with many policies of the Ministry and opinions expressed by teachers. In the near future, VNU will develop a new decree and operating regulations to ensure the highest autonomy for member units outside the framework of the Law on Higher Education approved by the National Assembly. Regarding the opening of pilot training majors as well as the implementation of international training cooperation programs, VNU advocates continuing to promote but must ensure training quality factors. VNU also proposed that the Ministry of Education and Training support VNU to participate more strongly in Project 911 on the basis of existing advantages such as: prestige, capacity, multidisciplinary and multidisciplinary structure with conditions for using common resources to ensure quality. Also in an effort to support the development of the science and technology sectors, VNU and regional universities have planned to coordinate in developing a plan for the development of science and technology staff, hoping to receive early approval from the Ministry. Implementing the policy of innovating the financial autonomy mechanism for public service units, in recent times, VNU has pioneered with the training institutions of the Ministry to develop 5 projects with innovative content in the spirit of valuing the science and technology sectors. There are 16 science and technology sectors of VNU, of which 06 sectors of social sciences and humanities are prioritized for investment in both tuition fees and enrollment support. This program will continue to be invested in depth in the future to help the social sciences and humanities sectors access the best conditions for development. VNU has also decided to assign the University of Science and Humanities to implement 02 key research topics on evaluating human resources in social sciences and humanities in Vietnam and research on ethics and lifestyle. VNU also supports the University to participate in major national research programs such as the Northwest Program, the East Sea Research Program and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Program, in order to further promote the capacity, position and pioneering responsibility of a leading training institution for the cause of industrialization, modernization and international integration of our country.
