Late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet's vision of a university city

Professor Dao Trong Thi, former Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture - Education - Youth - Adolescents and Children (Director of Hanoi National University from 2001 to 2007), said that in the late 20th century, large state-owned economic groups were considered the "iron fists" of the economy, the locomotives to lead the economy and the whole society forward.
And the late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet recognized that education also needs such "fists", with Hanoi National University and Ho Chi Minh City being likened to the two "iron fists" of innovative education.

According to Professor Vu Minh Giang, Chairman of the Science and Training Council, Hanoi National University, the establishment of two national universities demonstrates the "breakthrough thinking" in the field of education of the late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet.
Mr. Giang recalled that in the 80s, the education system still followed the Soviet model, with universities mainly specialized in fields such as Electricity, Mining, Irrigation, and Agriculture. "Engineers were trained in each field, and bachelors were trained in that field, an education system that served a planned labor economy. All graduates had a list submitted to the State Planning Commission at that time, now the Ministry of Planning and Investment, to distribute work," said Mr. Giang.
Since the renovation, the beginning of the socialist-oriented market economy, the old system has revealed many limitations due to the inability to allocate students according to quotas as before. The job placement is passive, unable to meet the demand for highly qualified human resources of economic establishments.
Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet at that time realized the need to build a new, more advanced, more modern higher education institution, keeping up with world trends.
In December 1993, he signed a decree to establish Hanoi National University, on the basis of merging the schools of Natural Sciences, Polytechnics, Pedagogy, Social Sciences & Humanities... The Prime Minister determined that this would be a multidisciplinary center for training, research and application of science and technology, the largest educational system ever with the stature of a "university city".
In 1995, Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet signed a decree to establish Ho Chi Minh City National University. In 1997, while working here, he directed: "Training must be closely linked to social needs, production realities, key economic areas, local characteristics and the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country, as well as closely linked to the preservation of national identity, conservation of nature and protection of the environment...".

Mr. Thi said that the national university model was still new and very strange to Vietnam at that time. During the implementation process, there were many different opinions, even opposition "right among the implementation team".
But the late Prime Minister showed decisiveness and one of the typical examples was his granting of autonomy to two national universities. Many experts likened this to a "10-contract" in higher education, the origin of the university autonomy policy that is widely implemented today.
Previously, schools were all under direct command and had to implement decisions from above without being able to decide on important issues related to their development, including expertise, management, and finance. However, Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet expressed his absolute support for the granting of autonomy. Thanks to that, Hanoi National University at that time had some distinctive differences. In terms of expertise, it was multidisciplinary and multi-field. In terms of mission, it was training and scientific research of high quality and high level. In terms of investment, it was given priority by the State in terms of facilities, staff, and was assigned an autonomous mechanism.
"At that time, our resources were very limited. If we invested widely, it would not be effective and would not be enough to create a strong breakthrough. Therefore, national universities were given priority for key investments in facilities, staff, and teaching staff," Mr. Thi recalled. Because they had the right to decide on professional activities, management, recruitment, and staff arrangement, the two national universities avoided the cumbersome and complicated administrative management mechanisms at other higher education institutions.
Symbolizing this, Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet awarded Hanoi National University a seal with the national emblem.
"The late Prime Minister studied many documents, then found regulations on the Prime Minister's authority and came to that decision. This was a controversial decision because the National Emblem is only for State management agencies, not universities," said Mr. Thi.
However, according to Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, the seal with the national emblem represents autonomy, self-responsibility and a role recognized and affirmed by the head of the Government. Later, Ho Chi Minh City National University was also awarded this seal.
Mr. Vu Minh Giang assessed that thanks to the breakthrough policies and regulations, the two national universities have boldly brought many new fields in the world for research and teaching, typically nanotechnology. The National University also participates in university organizations in the world, becoming members of many prestigious research communities. Since 1993, the two national universities have become the core of the Vietnamese higher education system, carrying out many important responsibilities of the country.
"These achievements are the result of the efforts of two national universities, the attention of the Party and the State, but we cannot fail to mention the strong mark of Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet," said Mr. Giang.
After more than 10 years of operation, the late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet concluded: "Any policy that is considered correct must be tested over time. The decision to establish the National University of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has been made for more than 12 years. Up to now, in general, we have enough basis to affirm that it is the correct policy."
Vietnam's first "university city" in Hoa Lac today also bears the mark of the late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet. According to Hanoi National University, Professor Nguyen Van Dao, former Director, once recounted that on a Sunday, the Prime Minister inspected potential locations for the construction of Hanoi National University. However, when arriving at a location, because he was not notified in advance, the permanent gate was not open. The Prime Minister and his entourage climbed over the fence to observe the land. After many days of thinking about the future of a large university, the Prime Minister decided to give Hanoi National University a beautiful, one-thousand-hectare plot of land in Hoa Lac.
"At that time, some officials wondered why it was so far away. But now everyone realizes the wisdom of choosing this location: the National University must have a spacious living environment, must meet the development needs of the next hundred years, and must be worthy of being a great university in the region and in the world," quoted Professor Dao.
Also in his memoirs, Professor Nguyen Van Dao said that the policy of organizing and rearranging the network of universities and colleges and building a national university had been proposed for a long time and discussed many times at many levels, but for a long time it could not be implemented. Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet directly directed the construction of a national university with new ideas about a university education.
"The establishment of two national universities is a milestone of profound innovation in the structure of Vietnam's higher education system. This is also the first time a multidisciplinary university with high autonomy has appeared in Vietnam's higher education system," Professor Nguyen Van Dao wrote in his memoir.