Students at Việt Nam National University-HCM City. Source: https://vnuhcm.edu.vn/

HCM CITY— Three additional member universities of VNU-HCM universities will become autonomous next year, Dr Nguyễn Minh Tâm, the university’s vice chancellor, said at an annual meeting held on Tuesday.

The three schools include the University of Information Technology, University of Economics and Law, and University of Technology.

The universities’ representatives said they would reform governance and training programmes, and increase school fees.

VNU-HCM International University is already autonomous.

Tâm said that VNU-HCM has created conditions for these universities to develop their capacities and competitive advantages.

Dr Vũ Hải Quân, VNU-HCM’s vice chancellor, said the government's university autonomy policy aims to develop higher education, including the improvement of teaching and research quality, and higher spots in international rankings.  

University autonomy along with accountability helps to provide transparency, Quân said, adding that "justification", or accountability, reports are based on key performance indicators.

VNU-HCM has seen positive results thanks to autonomy, he said.

VNU-HCM will continue pioneering its role in researching and recommending a suitable autonomous model for Việt Nam, he added.   

It will also strengthen relations with strategic partners and participate in international organisations and networks, and co-operate with enterprises to improve training and research to meet society’s needs.

It also has a role as one of the pillars in the implementation of the city’s proposed eastern innovative urban area development project.

It currently leads the country in the number of internationally accredited training programmes and prestigious university rankings. And its international publications and technology applications and transfer have also increased in quantity and quality.

The number of articles published in international journals in the 2016-2020 period was 4,700, an increase of 2.2 times compared to the 2011-2015 period.

By October 2020, it had 527 applications for intellectual property protection, and 566 technology transfer contracts and scientific services deployed with total revenue of VNĐ104.2 billion (US$4,499). —  VNS