VNU-Hanoi's Hoa Lac campus soon to become university city

In the Hoa Lac campus, freshmen from various universities under Vietnam National University-Hanoi (VNU-Hanoi) will receive a comprehensive education model: physically strong - mentally strong - good at social skills, said Prof. Le Quan, President of VNU-Hanoi, at the opening ceremony for the 2023-2024 academic year at the university's Hoa Lac campus this week.

This is a series of activities within the framework of events commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Vietnamese Government's issuance for the decree on VNU-Hanoi (December 10, 1993-2023).

Prof. Le Quan, President of VNU-Hanoi, honors 12 valedictorians for the 2023 academic year. Photo: VNU

"The opening ceremony of the 2023-2024 school year becomes more meaningful as the VNU-Hanoi campus in Hoa Lac urban area has welcomed nearly 6,000 students from its eight-member higher education institutions, an increase of four times from last year," Quan said.

Thousands of officials, teachers, and scholars will come to the Hoa Lac campus for teaching, studying, and research, Quan added, stressing that students trained in line with the comprehensive education model will be equipped with complete competencies and skills, creating momentum for success in future professional careers and life, including global citizen capacity, digital capacity, adaptive capacity, and innovative capacity.

Traditional martial arts included in curriculum

The 2023-2024 school year is the first year that the number of students at the Hoa Lac Campus of the University of Technology has reached 700.

Starting from the second semester of the 2023-2024 academic year, they will undergo the new physical education program of VNU-Hanoi, which includes martial arts.

Along with that, the university will open a club of sports activities for students to develop their strengths, create excitement and maintain regular exercise habits.  

Playful academic activities for VNU-Hanoi students. Photo: VNU

In Hoa Lac, VNU-Hanoi has completed the lecture hall-dormitory complex for thousands of students and the HT1 and HT2 lecture hall complexes, which were put into operation in 2022.

By 2025, VNU-Hanoi's facilities in Hoa Lac are expected to be completed and operational and will be able to accommodate approximately 15,000 students.

Approved by the Vietnamese government in 2003, the Hoa Lac campus project is part of a drive to turn Hoa Lac into a university city capable of accommodating some 60,000 students and faculty who will be relocated from downtown Hanoi.

In 2009, the Vietnamese government approved a plan to relocate universities and colleges out of downtown Hanoi by 2025 to avoid the concentration of students in the city's metropolitan areas.

According to the plan, about 23 educational institutions, including 12 universities and colleges and 11 other higher education institutions, will be relocated from 2010 to 2021. So far, only the University of Public Health has been moved from downtown Hanoi.