Korean 18 high school

A physics major at the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted has received two pieces of good news – acceptance letters from MIT and Princeton University in the US.

Many universities and colleges’ announcements of rising tuition fee have made students worry; therefore, the Ministry has called for unchanged fees.

According to the Department of Planning and Finance of the Ministry of Education and Training, the Decree No. 86/2015 on the collection and management of tuition fees for educational institutions and the policy of tuition fee exemption has clearly specified the framework and ceiling tuition fees for public higher education institutions.

Under the decree, self-financing public and government-funded high educational facilities have to cover recurrent expenditure and expenses on facility upgrade by themselves, and public educational institutions cannot cover recurrent and investment expenses by themselves. The Decree prescribes an average annual tuition increase of 10 percent. Public university institutions that autonomously implement reform of their operating mechanism under the Resolution No. 77/2014 shall comply with the operation mechanism pilot scheme approved by the Prime Minister.

The government will just stipulate the tuition fee framework for public preschools and high schools, according to the Law on Education 2019 and Decree No. 86 while the specific fee rates for each year shall be determined by provincial people’s councils in accordance with the actual living conditions of the regions and the annual increase in tuition fees must base on the consumer price index announced by the State.

All educational institutions must publicize their training costs, fees and other service charges for the courses in each academic year along with the enrollment notice on the website according to regulations, noted by the Ministry of Education and Training.

The Ministry of Education and Training said that many families care about tuition fees ; therefore, schools must publicize training costs, fees, enrolment charges and other service collection in the courses for an academic year to learners transparently. Schools must be responsible for deducting a portion of their tuition revenue to support students from low-income families.

Many students expressed their concern that they could not attend some schools as planned because the tuition fees exceeded their family’s financial ability.

The Ministry of Education and Training said that the Ministry of Education and Training has currently submitted a draft decree to replace Decree 86/2015 to the Government. From 2020 up to now, the Covid-19 epidemic and natural disasters, storms and floods in many localities have affected the development of the country and affected people’s income; hence, in its draft decree, the Ministry petitioned for unchanging tuition fee to share difficulties with parents and students.

Above all, the draft decree has included more beneficiaries of the policy of exemption and reduction of tuition fees and added many new policies with the aim to ensure all disadvantaged groups can access and benefit from exclusive education. Moreover, the new draft decree focused on supporting schoolers in distant and underprivileged regions to access education.

In addition to the new policies, the policies on tuition fee exemption and reduction, tuition fee support and other regulations in Decree 86/2015 will remain the same for the 2021-2022 school year.

The Ministry of Education and Training has directed educational institutions to keep the tuition fees stable for the forthcoming academic year as well as explain tuition fee collections. At the same time, that ministries, branches, People’s Committees of provinces and cities were asked to increase the appraisal and supervision of revenues and expenditures .

Regarding the ceiling tuition fees for self-financed schools and private schools, the Ministry of Education and Training said that the ministry has coordinated with ministries and agencies to collect opinions of localities and education and training institutions across the country. This new draft Decree on tuition fees with many new policies is of great significance as it links tuition fees not only with the degree of financial autonomy of public schools but more importantly, with the results of the quality assessment of education and training of public education and training institutions.

Specifically, the draft Decree stipulates that public schools which have been granted financial autonomy have not yet passed the quality accreditation, they must not collect fees exceeding a regulated tuition fee cap. Local or international financial-autonomous schools passing the quality accreditation are entitled to collect tuition fees of up to 2-2.5 times higher than their above-mentioned peers.

According to the current regulations in Decree 86, non-public schools including preschools and high schools are allowed to decide on their own fee collection rates but they must publicize the tuition rates for each school year while higher educational facilities and vocational training schools must announce expected tuition fee for the whole course for an academic year.

The draft also stipulates that the maximum increase in tuition fees per academic year does not exceed 10 percent for preschool and high schools and not more than 15 percent for universities. Particularly, the tuition fee for the 2021-2022 school year must not exceed the tuition fee for the 2020-2021 school year already collected by the training institution.

The draft decree also adds detailed policies for students who are eligible for tuition exemption or reduction while studying at private educational institutions. These students will receive grants equal to tuition fee in public schools.

Covid-19 outbreak is a key factor accelerating the process of digital transformation in Vietnam’s education sector.

Integration of technology has been seen as an effective mean to address shortcomings in the Vietnam’s education access and enhance its efficiency, however, there still exists a number of barriers hindering its digital adoption.

Insiders have said that the biggest issue in the sector’s digitalization is a lack of policies and guidance from the central to local levels with regard to accelerating digital transformation.

Nguyen Son Hai, director of the information technology (IT) Department under the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), told Hanoitimes that the ministry has not yet consistent regulations on online schooling, online testing, assessment as well as quality accreditation of online learning, which is far different from traditional learning.

“The ministry still lacks regulations for organizing online classes and schools in the network, including both short and long term,” Hai said.

Meanwhile, Hai said the sector’s network infrastructure, IT equipment and Internet services for schools, especially in remote areas, are outdated and asynchronous, failing to meet requirements for digitalization.

Director of IT Department under the MoET Nguyen Son Hai. Photo: Anh Kiet

He said the difference in infrastructure development among regions is a problem. To undertake the digitalization process in rural and mountainous areas is far more challenging than in big cities. “Infrastructure, platforms and the environment for digital transformation are not ready there yet,” Hai said.

In addition, the building of digital data including e-books, e-libraries, multiple choice question banks, electronic lectures, e-learning software, and simulation application software has not been systematically formed. Therefore, it is difficult to control online learning quality and content, he noted.

“Online teaching will be effective only if there are sufficient favorable conditions, which will ensure effective online teaching including information infrastructure and terminal devices. All students and teachers must have computers or devices with an internet connection,” Hai told Hanoitimes .

He said teachers need to be well trained in teaching online, while students need to be guided on how to participate in online classes and online teaching activities. Also, there must be instructions on how to organize online classes, and how to examine and assess students’ abilities and recognize online teaching results.

Covid-19 creates new thinking

When schools around the world have to close to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, online schooling is seen as a new poke promoting the Vietnam’s education sector with its effectiveness in sustaining IT skill for both teachers and students during school closures.

According to Nguyen DinhDuc, head of the Training Division of the Vietnam National University in Hanoi (VNU-Hanoi), after a six-month hiatus of 2020, students’ habits and thinking have changed remarkably.

A survey in early 2021 at the VNU-Hanoi found that nearly 60% of students want online classes.

The VNU-Hanoi has put nearly all learning materials into the digital courseware system to replace paper materials, which saves some VND2-3 billion (US$86,483-129,725) a year, Duc said.

Dao Van Diep, a teacher in Hanoi, is teaching online while students are off from school due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: Anh Kiet

He noted that digitalization in education sector has also improved training quality and eased teachers’ workloads, and provided new teaching tools to teachers through the application of digital technology.

“The success of the digitalization in the education sector will make an important contribution to the formation of a digital nation,” Duc said, adding that it is an important task to reform the education sector and improve education quality.

Hoang Thi Mai, a third-year student at the VNU-Hanoi, told Hanoitimes that online schooling weakens students’ soft skills as there is no direct meeting and discussion.

“Online learning allows students to review the lectures and save time since we don’t have to travel,” Mai said.

She added that the biggest advantage of online classes is online storage of all materials, discussion questions and tests which is easily accessible for students anytime and anywhere.

Great efforts of Vietnam’s education sector

Over the past time, the MoET and the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) have jointly encouraged technology firms to support and sponsor technology infrastructure, internet connection and software to help promote online schooling.

The MoET itself has developed a shared digital courseware, including open courseware, with about 5,000 e-lectures, 2,000 videos of lectures broadcast on television, 200 virtual experiments, 200 textbook items, 35,000 multiple-choice questions and over 7,500 doctoral dissertations.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the MoET has launched the website AnToanCovid.vn to build a database and draw maps about pandemic information for educational establishments. Over 18,000 schools update information daily on the website.

The education sector is building a digital capability framework for students, from preschool to general education. Students will not only practice using tools and be given knowledge, but also will develop their thinking skills and creativity.

International lenders signing the credit facility to support VietinBank Securities

VietinBank securities has received additional funding support with the recent signing of $60 million of syndicated loans, following a $30 million facility just a month ago.

On April 15, a consortium of major international lenders operating in Vietnam – Woori Bank Vietnam (Bac Ninh Branch), Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Vietnam, and Cathay United Bank Vietnam – has inked an agreement to facilitate $60 million for the additional financial needs of VietinBank Securities.

In particular, Woori Bank Vietnam (Bac Ninh Branch) specifically provided $50 million, while Taipei Fubon and Cathay United provided $10 million altogether.

Last month, a group of four Taiwanese lenders – the Union Bank of Taiwan, Taichung Commercial Bank Co., Ltd.’s Labuan branch, Taishin International Bank, and Huanan Commercial Bank – also rolled out a $30 million syndicated loan with a 12-month tenure for VietinBank Securities.

“We firmly believe that $90 million of high-profile syndicated loans would bring about more additional capacity for us to increase our foothold in Vietnam’s equity market and access to more potential customers,” noted Ho Thi Thu Hien, chairwoman of the board at VietinBank Securities.

On the same note, Lee Myoung Ho, Woori Bank Vietnam (Bac Ninh Branch) director and chief representative, applauded the brokerage’s vast potential and how the syndicated loans could pave the way for the company to bolsters its strength thanks to the competitive capital.

“Woori Bank is one of the largest South Korean banks with extensive years of experience in providing top-notch financial services. With our vast experience, we believe in VietinBank Securities’ strong standing and impressive performance in the past year,” he told VIR .

The deal is envisaged to lay concrete foundations for the company to boost its activities related to international loan advisory and financing arrangements.

At the signing ceremony, VietinBank Securities also connected businesses in various areas, such as Novaland Group, Minh Phu Seafood Group, Viet Hung Industrial Investment JSC, Louis Agro Group JSC, and other enterprises.

As one of the eldest, most experienced seven brokerage companies in the country, VietinBank Securities – as a part of state-owned lender VietinBank – has a proven customer-centric approach, with a wide range of tailored financial services such as underwriting-capital raising, mergers and acquisitions advisory, and asset management, to name a few.