VietNamNet Bridge – A new concept of education in Vietnam has been initiated: non-profit education. The debate has caused quite a furor among educators and analysts.
“Muon kinh doanh nen tranh xa giao duc” (keep away from the education sector if you plan to do business) is the title of an article published in a Vietnamese newspaper by Professor Tran Van Tho, a renowned analyst.
The article has immediately triggered a hot debate on education forums, especially when power disputes at several people-founded schools have overshadowed the national educational system.
Educators are trying to find a way that would allow them to provide “healthy education” while still making profits.
Phan Chau Trinh University has suggested that Vietnam needs to have non-profit schools.
According to the university, education establishments must follow an operational mode under which there are no shareholders. The owners of the schools are the community, while the schools run on donated money.
The author of the proposal believes that business profits that schools’ shareholders strive for actually spoil the schooling environment. If school leaders try to do everything to make profits, they will ignore education quality.
As for shareholders, like businesspeople, obtaining power and profit is a top priority. And once there is a conflict of interest, the investors will sacrifice education quality to make profits. In other words, making money is the most important task, while providing healthy education is only of minor importance.
The “non-profit education” proposal has not been received warmly. Professor Pham Phu, a former lecturer at the HCM City University of Technology, said that making profit is the driving force for educators to open schools.
The expected high profit is also the reason why the people-founded university network has been expanding so rapidly over the last 20 years.
In principle, investors, when opening schools, target both profit and national education development purposes. If their education quality is recognized by the society, they will be able to attract more students and call for more capital from shareholders. This will help them make higher profits.
Dr. Nguyen Duc Nghia, vice president of HCM City National University, believes that schools must be considered as businesses, which provide services and make profits.
“Schools must not take losses, because if they don’t have money, they cannot cover expenses and maintain educational activities,” Nghia said.
Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Hai, a lecturer of the Law Economics Faculty at the Nam Can Tho University, commented that it is not bad for educators to strive to make profit.
The matter of discussion, according to him, is not whether Vietnamese schools need to be “non-profit organizations”, but how to use the profits in the most effective way to develop national education.
“If the profit can be re-invested in a right way, this will provide a powerful resource to the nation,” he said.
Therefore, instead of the so called “non-profit school”, Vietnam should have “not-for-profit schools”, i.e., schools which do not try to make profits at any cost, but pay appropriate attention to education quality.
NLD