Promoting substantive autonomy in vocational education

Leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training affirmed that autonomy in vocational education will be promoted in a substantive direction, while continuing to maintain the state's role of 'creating and guaranteeing'.

On the afternoon of September 11, the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission coordinated with the Ministry of Education and Training to organize a workshop on "Orientation of autonomy and accountability in vocational education institutions" at Ly Thai To College, Bac Ninh.

The workshop took place in the context of the Politburo issuing Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW, identifying education and training development, including vocational education, as one of three strategic breakthroughs.

Leaders of the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission and the Ministry of Education and Training visited Ly Thai To College

PHOTO: POSTED TOGETHER

THE DILEMMA OF SCHOOLS THAT ARE NOT AUTONOMOUS

At the workshop, Mr. Truong Duc Cuong, Principal of Dong Nai College of Decorative Arts, a 122-year-old institution, shared the dilemma of not being autonomous. "According to the development roadmap, the school's size by 2030 will be 1,000 students. Previously, the school had 80 staff and lecturers. But according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's request to reduce the number of focal points and staff (by 20%), the school must gradually reduce the number of staff and lecturers. Previously, we had 80 staff and lecturers, then down to 70, then 65 and now 60, and it is not known whether it will be reduced further! While the school still has to ensure 100% of the enrollment scale, the payroll is controlled, the budget is reduced due to partial autonomy," said Mr. Cuong.

According to Mr. Cuong, not only Dong Nai College of Decorative Arts but also a series of other vocational training units of the "cultural industry" (dance, circus, music...) are suffering because they are completely dependent on the "milk" of the budget. If the State provides money, they will work, if not, they will stop. He raised the question: If autonomy means stopping the budget, can those schools survive? How can we build and preserve an advanced culture imbued with national identity, and preserve traditional craft villages, with what human resources?

Mr. Nguyen Tien Dong, Principal of Ly Thai To College, also shared that when empowered and given clear direction, vocational training institutions can innovate in training programs, creating high-quality human resources. But even with the few autonomy rights they have, many vocational training institutions have not fully utilized them. Partly due to limited management capacity and a mentality of waiting for guidance; partly due to a lack of mechanisms and resources to support schools in program innovation. "The vocational training sector needs breakthrough solutions to effectively implement autonomy in developing training programs, thereby building a truly open and flexible vocational training system. In particular, autonomy must go hand in hand with accountability, considering output results and social satisfaction as important measures," Mr. Dong proposed.

Half-hearted autonomy

According to Mr. Truong Anh Dung, Director of the Department of Vocational Education and Continuing Education, Ministry of Education and Training, vocational education autonomy is currently in the "initial stage". The policy mechanism on autonomy is not yet synchronous, still overlapping, and inconsistent between sectors. Many vocational education institutions still depend significantly on the budget, while their revenue sources are still limited due to low enrollment scale and low ability to mobilize social resources. The internal management capacity of many institutions does not meet requirements, the apparatus is still cumbersome and inflexible; accountability in many places has not been effectively implemented.

Incomplete reports from 34/63 former localities show that by 2024, out of 262 public vocational training institutions approved for autonomy, 30% of them will still be in the group where the state guarantees regular expenditures (group 4), while 61% of them will be able to partially guarantee regular expenditures (group 3). Only 5% of them will be able to guarantee regular expenditures themselves (group 2) and 4% will be able to guarantee all regular expenditures and investment expenditures themselves (group 1).

Mr. Truong Anh Dung said: "These figures reflect that the process of implementing financial autonomy is still in a transitional stage, with most establishments still depending on the budget at different levels. The rate of establishments achieving comprehensive financial autonomy (group 1) is still very low, showing that the ability to be fully autonomous is not yet widespread. However, the majority of establishments in group 3 shows that there is a certain shift in the vocational education system towards gradual autonomy, which needs to be monitored and supported in terms of institutions and organizational capacity to promote this process more effectively."

Explaining the above reality, Mr. Dung mentioned many reasons, including policy mechanisms, and also due to the law. The current Vocational Education Law (2014) is mainly approaching and institutionalizing from the perspective of autonomy and self-responsibility of vocational education institutions. "It can be seen that the current law on vocational education stipulates that the autonomy of some basic activities of vocational education institutions (such as opening training majors and occupations) must be based on the level of financial autonomy," Mr. Dung said.

Mr. Huynh Thanh Dat, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department, also said that "we need to look frankly at reality". Compared to the requirements of national development in the context of the fourth industrial revolution, globalization and increasingly fierce competition for human resources, our vocational education system still has many limitations. Autonomy is still half-hearted, many schools still have to wait for permission in things that could have been proactive; creativity is limited. Accountability is unclear, data lacks transparency, monitoring mechanisms are still formal, and society finds it difficult to evaluate actual quality...

There is a certain shift in the vocational education system towards gradual autonomy.

Photo: My Quyen

THE ROLE OF THE STATE "CREATION AND GUARANTEE"

Concluding the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, also commented that autonomy in vocational education in our country is still in its early stages, and it is necessary to continue to improve the mechanism and strengthen capacity to go into depth and sustainability. The new point of Resolution 71 is an important development step in educational governance. From considering financial autonomy as the center, it has now expanded to synchronous autonomy in all aspects. This opens up a more balanced and comprehensive approach, linking autonomy with accountability, at the same time with the mission of improving the quality of vocational education to serve the country's development. The role of the state is still extremely important, continuing to play the role of "creating and ensuring", through ordering, assigning tasks, and providing basic funding for vocational education institutions to carry out their mission of serving the public.

What the education and training sector needs to do in the near future is to complete the legal framework on autonomy and accountability to ensure consistency, clarity and feasibility. Stratify and classify autonomy such as building an autonomy mechanism suitable to the capacity and conditions of each facility, linking rights with responsibilities and corresponding monitoring mechanisms. In addition, the state needs to have policies to balance the three pillars of autonomy: finance - human resources organization - expertise, ensuring harmony and no bias, for real and sustainable autonomy...

New breakthrough

According to Mr. Huynh Thanh Dat, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission, the Party's viewpoints on the autonomy mechanism in public service units, especially in the field of education, have gradually developed clearly, demonstrating flexible adjustments in accordance with reality. In particular, Resolution 71 of the Politburo has introduced a new breakthrough point: affirming the full and comprehensive autonomy of educational institutions, regardless of the level of financial autonomy.

"This is a fundamental change in our Party's thinking on educational governance: eliminating the previous notion that "only financially self-sufficient institutions enjoy autonomy", instead affirming autonomy as a principled right of all vocational education institutions, regardless of size or financial capacity. Autonomy is not only limited to financial issues, but also reflected in proactively developing and implementing training programs, innovating teaching methods, organizing the apparatus, developing staff, expanding international cooperation and closely connecting with businesses and the labor market", said Mr. Huynh Thanh Dat.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thuc-day-tu-chu-thuc-chat-trong-giao-duc-nghe-nghiep-185250911225542787.htm