"To improve the quality of training, adequate investment resources are needed."

At this time, one of the issues attracting public attention both within and outside the education sector is the Ministry of Education and Training's proposal for reforming the financial mechanism in education and training for the period 2009-2014. Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh - Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - had a conversation with the Education and Times newspaper about the main contents of this proposal (Education and Times newspaper, issue 63, published May 16, 2009):

Improving the quality of training is impossible without investment resources, and these resources must be proportional to the quality. Specifically, adequate funding is needed. This is especially true in certain cutting-edge scientific fields, aiming for regional and international standards, where even greater attention to innovation is required. Infrastructure and equipment must meet training requirements, and international cooperation needs to be expanded.

The reality is that, over the past 11 years, tuition fees have remained unchanged while prices, living conditions, and people's incomes have all increased, which is unreasonable. Given the limited state budget, mobilizing public resources and student contributions within permissible limits is entirely necessary. This not only benefits the overall cause but also students and meets the demand for high-quality human resources required by society.

Without even comparing it to other developed countries, I can cite China as an example. Despite having a more developed economy, the state doesn't bear the entire burden of education costs. They also encourage students to pay tuition; currently, their average tuition fee is around 5000 Yuan per student per year, equivalent to 14 million VND per student per year. In contrast, Vietnam's tuition is only 1.8 million VND per student per year, which is completely unreasonable.

When state budget resources are insufficient and tuition fees are too low, it's impossible to talk about improving the quality of education. Where would the funds come from to upgrade facilities and fund activities that enhance the quality of training? At my school, for example, a young lecturer with 2-3 years of experience earns only 1.5 million to 1.7 million VND per month, while fresh graduates only get 1.4 million VND per month. With such a salary, they can only afford to rent temporary accommodation and eat cheap meals, let alone reinvest in improving their skills and abilities...

Increasing tuition fees is necessary, but it's important to understand that higher fees provide additional funding to improve the quality of education. In my opinion, the proposed financial reform plan has addressed a long-standing issue in universities. The University of Social Sciences and Humanities has many students from disadvantaged backgrounds, requiring the university to subsidize up to 2 billion VND annually for this purpose. To obtain this amount, it's necessary to cut training costs, research costs, and staff training expenses. This is a long-standing inequality, where regular students bear the training costs of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, costs that the state should ideally cover. Now, according to the plan, this inequality has been resolved, and the state is responsible for paying the budget-exempt amounts for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. As for the 50% tuition fee increase at vocational schools this academic year, I believe it's reasonable and entirely acceptable. In reality, an increase of 70%, or even double, would only partially offset training costs and slightly improve the income of faculty and lecturers. However, the State has carefully calculated the increase to only 50%, ensuring that schools have additional revenue to improve training quality while remaining acceptable to students – this is the humane aspect of the Project.

•According to Education & Times