On November 20, 2021, Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) held a ceremony on the celebration of Vietnamese Teachers' Day and the opening of the academic year 2021-2022. The event was held both online and offline to strictly follow Covid-10 prevention guidelines.
Participants of the ceremony include: HE. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Member of the Politburo, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; Mr. Le Khanh Hai, Member of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the President's Office; Mr. Le Minh Hoan, Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; Mr. Nguyen Kim Son, Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Education and Training; Mr. Huynh Thanh Dat, Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Science and Technology; Mr. Hau A Lenh, Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister, Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs; and Mr. Le Quang Huy, Member of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Science, Technology and Environment, etc.
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc awards the portrait of President Ho Chi Minh to VNUA
Science and technology is the foundation
Over the years, together with training affairs, VNUA has always determined that science and technology shall be the foundation for university operation. VNUA had successfully supported the implementation of: agricultural restructuring in the suburban districts of Hanoi, Quang Tri, Son La, and the Central Highlands; the innovation of scientific management; the establishment of strong research groups, elite research groups; the promotion of the scientific research of 50 strong research groups of the university, prioritize to research 10 key agricultural products.
Student representative gives flowers to congratulate lecturers on Vietnamese Teachers’ Day
Currently, VNUA has 82 scientific and technological models, 71 models of which are applied in research and technology transfer; 11 models are training models. Meanwhile, there are many excellent models such as model of microalgae production; model of edible and medicinal mushrooms; model of aerologic cultivation in the production of disease-free potato seed; and model for preserving the mother trees, etc.
Meritorious teacher, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan delivers a speech at the ceremony
At the ceremony, the Meritorious teacher, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan, VNUA’s Secretary of the Party Committee and President, says that in the past few years, despite many difficulties, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire Party Committee, staff and students of VNUA have tried our best to maintain our political stance, cooperate, and strive to achieve the development goal of our university.
VNUA determines to innovate training; develop and implement a project to improve the quality of training, internship and vocational training for students at local enterprises and organizations. The outcome standards for students are based on the motto: Students should not only be good at their major and foreign languages but also good at social skills in the era of international integration.
The employment rate of VNUA’s graduates is over 90% after one year of graduation. In response to the Covid-19 epidemic, VNUA is very flexible in converting training methods from offline to online platform, working very closely with businesses and high schools across the country in training and technology transfer to serve people’s life and the society, etc.
Let the rural area of Vietnam always be a peaceful place
On the occasion of 20 November and the opening of the new academic year 2021-2022, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has sent his warm greetings to the lecturers, staff, students and researchers of VNUA as well as all teachers, pupils and students in Vietnam.
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivers a key note speech at the ceremony
Speaking at the ceremony, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc highly appreciates the efforts and impressive results of the Agriculture and Rural Development sector, including the positive contribution of VNUA to the agricultural restructuring, the added value of Vietnamese agricultural products and the building of new rural areas, typically in training high-quality human resources, conducting scientific research, and transferring many effective technical advances to farmers, etc.
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc also affirms that the Party and the government have always believed and hoped that VNUA would continue to promote its glorious tradition of being a Labour Hero in the Doi moi period, Hero of the People's Armed Forces. He has a strong belief that VNUA shall be a place that maké important, practical and effective contribution to the construction and development of large-scale centralized commodity agriculture in the direction of modernity and application of high technology, etc., in accordance with the spirit of the XIII Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan received the title “Meritorious Teacher”
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc suggests that the ministries, branches and VNUA focus on implementing the following contents: "VNUA must actively innovate comprehensively in order to implement the Law No. 34 on Higher Education promulgated by the XIV National Assembly, specifically Decree 99/2019/ND-CP of the Government; continue to innovate training contents and methods in line with the era of the 4th industrial revolution.
VNUA must quickly change its approach to develop training programs, starting from determining the proper output standards, changing training methods from knowledge transmission to capacity development for learners; Consider students as the center of the training process; Maximize technology application to improve training efficiency, enhance online training along with online lab models with the support of smart devices and the Internet of Things, especially in the context that we are gradually having to "adapt safely, flexibly, effectively to control the Covid-19 epidemic...; Focus on building and fostering a contingent of lecturers to meet the requirements of training innovation.
Lecturers must switch from the role of lecturing to the role of guidance, inspiration and at the same time must be a bright example of self-study and creativity for students to follow, etc.
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the ceremony
The university should drastically renovate the university governance model, implement strong university autonomy, with the common spirit that universities must be autonomous in order to be proactive in learning, creating and exploiting resources in accordance with the laws without much restrain from the administrative procedures, etc.
VNUA must strive to quickly become an exemplary research university as guided…;
VNUA continues to perform the 5 tasks that he mentioned during his visit on the occasion of VNUA 60th Anniversary on 12 October 2016. In particular, it is noted that VNUA needs to continue to actively consult State agencies to implement the goal of green-covered agriculture, such as the strategy of planting 1 billion trees in the period 2021-2025 and VNUA should be proactive in protecting the environment, fulfilling the commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as committed by the Prime Minister at the last COP26 Conference; encourage the mobilization of a variety of stakeholders to participate in green agriculture initiative programs, improve weak production capacity factors such as data, knowledge, skills, management systems, and facilities, etc.
There is a famous saying: “What begins here is to change the world”, I would like to quote that sentence to claim that: “What begins here will change Vietnam's agriculture and rural industry. I want VNUA’s lecturers and students to turn your enthusiasm and wisdom into an endless source of energy to light up the rural area of Vietnam, so that the Vietnamese countryside will forever be a peaceful destination for all of us, a tranquil area that nurture our soul and always open its arms to welcome us back".
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc awards the title of Meritorious Teachers to 12 lecturers of the Vietnam National University of Agriculture
At this ceremony, 12 lecturers of VNUA are awarded the title of Meritorious Teacher by the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 2 lecturers with a various number of achievements and contributions receive the Prime Minister's Certificate of Merit. Other lecturers, staff, and other employees with outstanding achievements are awarded the title of ministerial-level Competition Soldier and other certificates from the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, and the Trade Union of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.