VietNamNet Bridge – The number of students putting their names down for entrance exams into the banking and securities faculties of big universities has tumbled 20% as the financial-banking market has remained gloomy, meaning fewer job opportunities for graduates.

Examinees are seen discussing after they finish the Chemistry test at an examination site in HCMC last week.

At the HCMC Economics University, for instance, the banking faculty’s enrollment target between 2005 and 2010 was set at 500 students annually, but the number has fallen to 400 after 2010 and 350 at the time, said Tran Hoang Ngan, vice rector of the university. The school is one of the two colleges supplying manpower for the south’s banking sector.

The number of students enrolled for banking, including the sub-department of securities, has gone down by 20% compared to the peak time of the university. Worries over insufficient job opportunities have had adverse impacts on students’ enrollments, and the school itself has also lowered the target to match reality.

Ngan observed that the number of banking students studying abroad has also shrunk in recent years.

In 2006 -2009, the HCMC Economics University’s banking faculty only picked out students with the highest score. The number of students sitting in entrance exams into banking and securities in those years was double the faculty’s target.

Similarly, the number of securities students is now one half of that in the climax of the securities sector in 2007-2008.

The strong decline of student numbers proves that training activities are being aligned to how the market performs.

Meanwhile, at the Banking Academy, which is the north’s biggest supplier of banking personnel, some 10,000 students have enrolled this year, said a representative. The school aims for about 3,000.

The Banking Academy’s target does not decrease significantly compared to the previous years. However, the number of candidates has plunged.

In the banking sector’s heyday a few years ago, the number of candidates hit 20,000 before falling to 18,000 and then 10,000 for the time being. It is evident that the performance of financial markets has a strong influence on education.

SGT/VNN