Propaganda and doctoral salaries cannot be measured in money alone

Professors and doctors at universities receive an income of nearly 100 million VND/month

Currently, at many universities, professors and associate professors receive an income of nearly 100 million VND/month, and doctors earn tens of millions/month.

For example, at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, according to statistics, the total average income of lecturers will fluctuate between 35-45 million VND/month for doctors and 85 million VND/month for Associate Professor and Professor.

Or at the University of Economics and Law (Ho Chi Minh City National University), lecturers with a doctoral degree and over 3 years of experience have an income of 35 million VND/month; Associate Professor 55 million VND/month, Professor 65 million VND/month, ...

Speaking to Lao Dong Newspaper reporter, Associate Professor, Dr. Do Van Dung - former Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education said that the current income of Professors, Associates, and doctors comes from many sources.

The first is the basic salary plus additional income due to the autonomous mechanism. Second is the remuneration from the number of teaching hours. The third source of income comes from scientific research. Lecturers who are capable of researching well and publishing international papers will receive bonuses, some schools will give bonuses up to hundreds of millions of VND for each paper.

"For example, a lecturer who publishes 5 international articles in a year can receive about 1 billion VND, an average of nearly a hundred million VND per month without having to teach much. This is the reason why some lecturers have such high incomes - Associate Professor, Dr. Do Van Dung said.

This person also believes that such an income is normal because universities implement an autonomous mechanism and have to compete fiercely to attract talent. When owning a team of high-quality lecturers, including many Associate Professor and Doctor, the school will enhance its reputation, attract many students and improve its position on the rankings through scientific research works and international articles.

However, the former Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education said that not all Associate and Doctoral degrees have such a high income. In small schools, especially in the locality, their income can be only at the rate of several million VND per month.

Associate Professor, Dr. Do Van Dung also emphasized the story of achieving academic titles and degrees, they have had to make great efforts throughout the process of research, teaching and dedication. Their contributions are not only in scientific research works but also in the role of leading and orienting young lecturers. Their value cannot be measured in just money.

Proposal to pay hard salaries according to job position

Sharing about this issue, Dr. Hoang Ngoc Vinh - former Director of the Department of Vocational Education, Ministry of Education and Training - said that the high income of Professors, Associate Professor, and Dr. partly reflects the actual quality of teaching and research, as well as the ability to attract students, sponsors or research contracts that can bring higher income to lecturers.

However, income and salary are just a measure, but they do not always fully demonstrate the true value of a scientist or lecturer.

In general, Professors, Associate Professor, and Dr. with high incomes are good if they truly create real value for society and it is necessary to be transparent and objective in these contributions, said Mr. Vinh.

Mr. Vinh acknowledged that scientific research brings value to society, but not all research works and products can be commercialized, except for research and technology development. There are products measured in money thanks to commercialization in the fields of engineering technology, biomedical...

In Vietnam, the assessment of lecturer capacity is mainly based on the number of scientific articles (ISI, Scopus) or research topics, but there is no good mechanism to assess the actual value of research products" - Mr. Vinh analyzed.

From this reality, Mr. Vinh believes that hard salaries should be paid to Professors, Associate Professor, and Dr according to job positions and soft income from commercialization of products or research works. The university where the Professor or Associate Professor is appointed can evaluate KPI (Key Performance Indicators) to pay salaries or remove him from the position of Professor or Associate Professor after 3 years if the KPI is low, students are not satisfied and do not contribute value to the school as well as to society.

Currently, many universities in Vietnam mainly income from tuition fees for students, so paying salaries very high for professors, Associate Professor, and Dr does not fully reflect their significance and responsibility in scientific and technological research.

Some schools, because they do not have professors, are willing to pay high salaries to attract students to gain fame, ask for the title of professor to earn research contracts... rather than making real contributions to the school and society" - Dr. Vinh stated the reality.