At the 2024 Higher Education Conference on the morning of August 9, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thu Thuy, Director of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Training, said that the scale of regular university training tends to increase slightly compared to 2023.

Notably, there is a significant increase in the fields of Mathematics and Statistics, Computer Science and Information Technology, Engineering Technology, Engineering, Manufacturing and Processing, Architecture and Construction, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Veterinary Medicine (this sector increased by 62,060 students at a rate of 10.59% compared to 2023).

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, this shows that training institutions have paid attention to the trend of sustainable development, developing technical and technological industries to meet the development needs of the country.

The scale of master's training also tends to increase steadily again in all majors compared to 2023. In particular, the strongest increase is in teacher training majors (an increase of 3,353 students, equivalent to an increase of 34.79% compared to 2023); Business and Management, Law majors (an increase of 3,205 students, an increase of 10.48% compared to 2023),...

The Arts sector also changed due to the attention of the Ministry in charge. The scale of master's training increased by 39.12% but the number of students increased by only 178.

The scale of doctoral training has begun to increase sharply in all fields compared to 2023.

The strongest increase is in the following majors: Mathematics and Statistics, Computer and Information Technology, Engineering Technology, Engineering, Production and Processing, Architecture and Construction, etc., with an increase of 637 PhD students (NCS) with an increase rate of 33.32% compared to 2023. The Life Sciences and Natural Sciences majors increased by 390 NCS with an increase rate of 57.52%; the Teacher Training major increased by 350 NCS with an increase rate of 51.32%...

According to Ms. Thuy's assessment, these are very positive development directions.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training also show that the number of newly opened training majors continued to increase last year, especially majors implemented by training institutions with autonomy. Majors that will be opened in 2024 include: Tourism, Logistics and supply chain management, Artificial Intelligence, etc.

The Ministry of Education and Training assessed that training work is increasingly focused on and significantly improved in quality. The teaching staff has increased in both quantity and quality. Scientific research activities are focused on, research projects are increasingly oriented towards real quality; the contribution of higher education institutions (HEIs) in scientific publications both domestically and internationally always occupies a dominant position. The rankings of Vietnamese training institutions and sectors are increasingly recognized on the world HEI map.

However, the Ministry of Education and Training also recognized some shortcomings and limitations.

Specifically, although the quality of training has been improved, it still fails to meet the requirements for the quality of human resources, especially highly qualified human resources and the requirements for developing a knowledge-based economy. Foreign language proficiency, including English proficiency, of trained workers is still low, failing to meet the requirements in the context of increasingly deep international integration.

Besides, the scale of university training has increased but is concentrated in industries and fields with high potential for socialization while basic science, social science, culture and arts, agriculture... have not yet attracted learners.

Most higher education institutions focus mainly on training activities, especially undergraduate training, and have not paid adequate attention to investing in postgraduate training associated with scientific research.

Specifically, in the total scale of training at all levels of higher education, the scale of master's level training accounts for only about 5%, at the doctoral level about 0.6%, much lower than other countries in the region and in the world. In particular, the proportion of postgraduate training in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is much lower, at the master's level only reaching more than 2%, at the doctoral level only reaching approximately 0.3% and tends to continue to decrease.

In addition, training is not closely and regularly linked to labor requirements and social needs. The capacity to connect research institutes, universities, scientists and businesses has improved but still does not meet practical requirements, and has not fully exploited and promoted the potential of scientific research and technology transfer.

Although the number of scientific and technological staff has increased, there is a lack of leading scientists capable of leading new research directions and implementing national tasks at regional and international levels; the motivation and enthusiasm of a part of the scientific and technological staff is not high.

State budget investment in higher education has been on a downward trend in recent years, causing many public institutions to lack the necessary financial resources to cover training costs and reinvest to improve training quality; tuition fees at public institutions are slow to be adjusted to ensure adequate cost coverage, thus affecting their financial autonomy.

Meanwhile, the socialization of education has not achieved many results; preferential mechanisms and policies on land, tax, and credit are not attractive enough, so they have not attracted many non-state resources to invest in education, especially in areas with special socio-economic difficulties.

Predicted benchmark scores of Northern universities in 2024

Representatives of some northern universities have provided analysis and predictions about the 2024 benchmark scores using high school graduation exam results.