Training and attracting 9,000 PhDs: Domestic training funding is too low

Currently, the budget for doctoral training in the country is unreasonable, too little compared to sending people to study abroad, so the quality is not as required.

It is expected to spend 12,000 billion VND to train 7,500 lecturers with doctoral degrees, attract 1,500 more doctors from other places to teach at universities, and at the same time train lecturers and managers of universities to meet standards.

That is the goal set by the Ministry of Education and Training in the draft Project to improve the capacity of lecturers and managers of higher education institutions, meeting the requirements of fundamental and comprehensive innovation in education and training in the 2018-2025 period, with a vision to 2030.

Mr. Hoang Van Cuong, National Assembly delegate of Hanoi, Vice President of National Economics University expressed his opinion on this issue.

PV:Please give your opinion on the draft of the Ministry of Education and Training proposing to allocate 12,000 billion VND.Co-training 7,500 lecturers with doctoral degrees, attracting 1,500 more doctors from abroadto theUniversityteaching?

Mr. Hoang Van Cuong:In training lecturers with doctoral degrees, the Ministry of Education and Training has had Projects 322 and 911. However, up to now, the Ministry wants to change the method of training lecturers with doctoral degrees to be more suitable than the above projects, so we should support it.

Because the new project does not take additional funding from the State but is implemented based on the remaining funding of Project 911 and an additional 1,800 billion VND from universities and beneficiaries of the project. This method will avoid the situation where lecturers do not want to go to school but because they receive a scholarship, they still register to go; at the same time, it helps graduate students to consider very carefully the amount of money they will spend to go to school in addition to the financial support from the State.

Mr. Hoang Van Cuong, National Assembly delegate of Hanoi, Vice President of National Economics University

Of the 9,000 PhDs, the Education sector plans to train about 5,000 PhDs abroad at prestigious universities around the world; and train about 2,000 PhDs at accredited universities in Vietnam. In addition to training, the Education sector also allocates funds to attract about 1,500 PhDs working abroad or working outside of higher education institutions to work at universities in Vietnam.

The forms of training and attracting PhDs are also very flexible because there will be people who are trained completely abroad, people who are trained domestically, and people who study through a combination of domestic and foreign training.

However, the Ministry of Education and Training needs to consider allocating the number of lecturers sent to study according to different forms. It should not be fixed but can be converted between different forms of training on the basis of ensuring budget resources.

Should support training of 1 PhD in the country with a budget of 1 billion VND

PV:Vas a member of the National Assembly and head of a universityis piloting financial autonomy., what do you suggest for vabout workPhD training for universities and academies today?

Mr. Hoang Van Cuong:The current unreasonable thing is that the funding for doctoral training in the country compared to abroad is unreasonable. That is, a doctoral student sent abroad for training can receive up to 2 billion VND in support from the State agency, but when studying in the country, he or she is only supported with about 30 million VND during the entire study period. Therefore, the quality of the doctoral training can hardly meet the requirements.

In my opinion, when the Ministry of Education and Training submits the new doctoral training project to the Government for consideration, it must reconsider the investment budget for doctoral training in the country. For example, it is possible to support the training of a doctor in the country with a budget of 1 billion VND instead of several tens of millions of VND as at present.

To train PhDs domestically with the same high quality as those trained abroad, the Ministry of Education and Training should select and invest in a few leading key universities and academies to develop infrastructure, scientific research, etc.

When universities and institutes are selected to invest in doctoral training like those abroad, there must be a selection and screening of lecturers who enjoy the above training funding. After completing training, doctoral students must have professional qualifications and foreign languages ​​like those trained abroad, must be able to write articles published in international journals, and participate in international conferences.

State management agencies should "order" universities and training institutes to train a number of PhD students to become teachers for the school with specific criteria, meeting international standards.

Funding for doctoral training in the country is unreasonable. Photo: Internet

This will help universities and academies improve their training capacity.

Talented people leave, and at some point they will return.

PV:Sir, up to now, some PhDs have been sent abroad to study butagaindo not return to work in their home country and they are willing to refund the money they were sent to study.His view on the situationThishowAnd will this new project have the same effect?

Mr. Hoang Van Cuong:If the project to train and attract 9,000 PhDs is approved by the Government, the story of PhD students being sent abroad to study but then not returning to work in the country may still repeat itself as in projects 322 and 911.

The reason is that after finishing their studies, some people feel that there is a better research, development and income environment abroad, so they stay. Some people are even willing to pay back the money that the State spent to support them to study.

Of course, when the State invests money to train a PhD, they hope they will return to their country to contribute to their homeland.

However, I think that those who stay abroad to work must be those with real qualifications and abilities. They have the right to choose whether to stay abroad or return home and we cannot prohibit them. State agencies should not restrict them either.

In my opinion, it is normal for graduate students to not return home but return the money to the place they were sent to study, and it does not cause any loss to the State budget. At some point, they will contribute their knowledge and experience to the development of the country in many different ways.

The important thing in training and attracting PhDs to return to work in the country is that we must have a policy mechanism so that lecturers sent to study, even if they stay abroad to work, will at some point return to work in the country or regularly have connections with domestic agencies to support and contribute to the country's development.

PV:Thank you sir./.

According to VOV