New Circular Enumerates Admission Criteria for Universities

The education and training ministry has issued Circular 32, which stipulates the criteria for admission to higher education institutions. Admission will be based on three criteria, which are the number of students per lecturer in a department, the floor area per student and the number of students in a higher education establishment. Accordingly, the floor area per student must not be under 2.5sq.m. The maximum number of students in a university will be generally 15,000, while it will be 8,000 in universities offering health as the major subject and 5,000 in universities that specialize in art. The circular says universities should meet all three criteria and are expected to stop recruiting students for college-level programs by 2020, and for vocational training programs by 2017. The education and training ministry will decide on plans to improve the quality of lecturers in health, art and agriculture, besides forestry and fisheries. The circular takes effect from February 1, 2016. (VietNamNet Dec 25)