Assoc. Prof. Dr. Huynh Van Chuong, Hue University Vice President
Assoc. Prof. Huynh Van Chuong said that besides the positive aspects, there are still some difficulties. The unbalanced enrollment rate between units and majors posed the need for continuing to have solutions, in which the occupational structure is one of these.
How do you rate the enrollment situation of Hue University this year compared to the other years, Sir?
This year, the undergraduate and postgraduate enrollment situation is good, and particularly, there is an increase in the number of registrations. For postgraduate level, phase 1 has 750 passed candidates, and phase 2 has more than 1,700 applications. It can be seen that the postgraduate enrollment has reached and even exceeded the target set for both phases (2,400). Even in the challenging conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic and flooding, when there is no priority given to the enrollment and training in the Central Highlands and the Southwest regions, the enrollment numbers from these places were still high and possibly took the highest position in the country overall.
This year is also the most effective postgraduate enrollment one within the past five years despite the challenging compulsory standard conditions. In particular, there are several outstanding units, such as University of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Science, University of Education, University of Law, University of Economics.
Compared with other educational institutions nationwide, Hue University is one of the most excellent enrollment units, even in comparison with the National University of Hanoi_2 phrases of about 2,400 students, and Da Nang University with approximately 1,000 ones.
Achieving a high result in postgraduate enrollment is one of the conditions that aid in increasing the graduate students' rate, aiming at a research university with 20-30% of postgraduate students in the total target of training levels.
About research students, according to Circular 08 (Circular 08/2017/TT-BGDĐT dated April 4, 2017 – Introducing Regulations On Doctoral Enrolment And Training), the entry conditions are rigorous, especially the foreign languages and the work published before being a research student; however, from January to October 2020, there have been 32 research students admitted.
Hue University is still accepting applications, and it is expected that there will be 50 research students enrolling. Currently, the mechanism of Hue University is very flexible by one having all standards meeting the criteria, the university will establish a council for considering the admission.
Only at the university level, was the number of students enrolled by October 23 about 9,500 candidates, increased by 5-8% compared to 2019, and currently reached approximately 10,000 candidates for all enrollment methods. That is an ideal number for a regional university (reaching about 80% of the total target with about 12,000).
In particular, not only candidates from the Central and Central Highlands but many candidates from cities in the two regions at the two ends of the country such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Lam Dong, etc. Being able to attract students in the context of pandemic and floods is a positive sign.
The units that nearly, already or exceedingly achieved the target are: the University of Economics, the University of Foreign Languages, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the University of Law, and the Faculty of Tourism. And the ones having difficulties are the University of Science, the University of Agriculture and Forestry, the University of Education, and the University of Art. However, in this year, most institutions have increased their number of candidates, which is a good signal, especially for the University of Education.
Notably, this year, about 5% of the excellent candidates with high prizes enrolled in Hue University in many majors. Typically, candidate Ho Viet Duc (winning the gold medal in International Biology Olympiad 2020) was admitted to the University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Meanwhile, in previous years, many people were concerned that these contestants might go to Ho Chi Minh city to study.
Are the above enrollment results related to the benchmarking determination, Sir?
Raising standards is an issue that Hue University is taking into considerations. Hue University also calculates the benchmark very carefully, basing on the number of candidates registered for admission, on set targets, and on candidates' situation, especially the high school graduation exam results in 2020.
This year, most majors have the minimum score of 5 points or more for each subject in the combination, and some majors require 8-9 marks or more for each subject. Many majors of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy have a benchmark up to 27, 25 (the odonto-stomatology major), 27.55 (medical).
Especially in 2020, the University of Agriculture and Forestry also made a breakthrough when several majors have a benchmark up to 18-19 marks. We also raised the information technology benchmark (from 13.5 in 2019 to 17 marks in 2020). The benchmark raising demonstrates the commitment to the province in raising input and output standards for information technology, meeting the needs for qualified human resource.
Striving to become a National University and the trend of autonomy are inevitable. Thus, how can Hue University solve this problem with the enrollment associated, Sir?
Hue University aims to become a National University in the direction of autonomous university with research orientation. Therefore, we are trying to increase the proportion of postgraduates balanced to that of undergraduates.
Hue University determined that academic autonomy is the first priority, step by step, becoming autonomy in finance. Since education and training are the top-priority national policies, it is necessary for the university to have priority policies from the State to get a general direction.
The targeted units that focus on 100% self-financing are the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Foreign Languages, University of Law, University of Economics, and Tourism Faculty. At the same time, other units' financial autonomy try to achieve about 70 - 80%. However, the University of Arts still needs specific mechanisms and national support with the budget.
We set a roadmap and have solutions to put autonomy into practice—the more autonomous we are, the better the enrollment impact is. Being autonomous to elevate Hue University to become a National University and with Hue's peaceful environment, candidates will choose to enter Hue University.
Thank you, Associate Professor!
By Huu Phuc