VietNamNet Bridge - While Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung is concerned  about the surplus of bachelor’s degree graduates, Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha is confident about the ministry's efficiency of measures to streamline student enrollment.

MOLISA's Minister Dao Ngoc Dung

Dung, answering inquiries from National Assembly’s Deputies on April 18, called on people to encourage their children to go to vocational schools. He emphasized that going to university is not the only way for someone to make his way in the world.

Dung launched the appeal because very few high school graduates want to attend vocational schools and believe university education has more job opportunities. 

Thach Phuoc Binh, a National Assembly’s Deputy from Tra Vinh provinces, raised the question about the enrollment of vocational schools, when universities open their doors more widely to students.

Dung admitted that many vocational schools cannot enroll enough students, which explains why Vietnam ‘has too many masters, but few laborers’. 

Under Instruction No 10 of the Communist Party Secretariat, Vietnam needs to have 30 percent of secondary school graduates and 60-70 percent of high school graduates going to vocational schools by 2020.

Dung cited a report as saying that about 60-70 percent of vocational schools can find 50-60 percent of the students they need. 

Meanwhile, it would be even more difficult to attract students to vocational schools in the time to come.

Asked about solutions to lure more students to vocational schools, Dung said his ministry, as the governing body of vocational schools, will improve the training quality and make information about quality and enrollment transparent.

The training quality improvement will help more vocational school graduates find good jobs after the graduation.

Nha from the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), who also answered the inquiries on August 18, spoke about successful. solutions.  The number of students studying at continuing education centers, for example, has been increasing, while the increase was 40 percent in 2016.

The number of students who plan to go to vocational school, not to university, is also on the increase. In 2016, less than 50 percent of high school graduates continued higher education.

Giao Duc Viet Nam newspaper commented that while Dung is worried about students for vocational schools, Nha feels confident about the efficiency of MOET's measures.

In related news, MOET has asked universities to publicize surveys and reports on the employment of their graduates. The statistics must be published on the schools’ websites, beginning this year.

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