Could you please tell us about the current situation of training and using human resources in basic sciences in Vietnam?

I would mention natural sciences, life sciences, mathematics and statistics as well, which means math and natural sciences, including basic sciences. These are the fundamental sciences, essential for the science, technology and socio-economic development of every nation.

Regarding the higher education level, statistics show that in 2022, the number of students in these majors accounted for less than 1.5 percent of total university students, which was much lower than that in the region and the world (it was 6.3 percent in South Korea, 7.4 percent in Israel, 7.0 percent on average in the EU and 7.8 percent in Germany).

Counting post-university training as well, the number of students majoring in mathematics and natural sciences per 10,000 people in Vietnam in 2021 was just about one third of Singapore, 1/12 of Malaysia, 1/8 of the EU and 1/11 of Germany.

The proportion of students following the majors has been on the decrease in recent years, except for math and statistics, which witnessed considerable improvement in 2022.

In 2022, the number of these university students just accounted for 1.3 percent of total students of all majors. The number of enrolled students majoring in natural sciences and life sciences was just 60 percent of demand; only mathematics and statistics could enroll 90 percent of total students wanted.

Even students majoring in these subjects at high schools for the gifted do not want to continue studying these subjects at university.

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) reported that in the 2022 enrollment season, only 709 students out of 25,000 students at 75 high schools for the gifted throughout the country, or 2.8 percent, chose to study math or natural sciences.

Because the majors are not attractive to students, schools do not set high benchmarks for input students. Students just need to obtain average scores to be eligible to register to study basic sciences, except for mathematics which have had relatively high benchmarks in recent years.

The lack of students in these majors and the low quality of students are a worrying problem, because this may lead to a shortage of highly qualified science and technology human resources for the country. 

The unattractiveness of natural sciences and life sciences to students is also attributed to the limitations in job opportunities. 

Only mathematics and statistics saw improvement in recent years because these majors have links with data technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

Why do you think basic sciences cannot attract students?

The core factor lies in the closed relations among high-quality human resources, the development level of the economy, and the demand of the job market. In general, if there is no intervention by the state, the relation will just observe market rules.

If the development level of the economy is still low, the job market won’t have high demand for a science and technology workforce and few students will choose to study science and technology. 

Meanwhile, if high-quality science and technology human resources are not ready, we won’t be able to promote investment and development for a knowledge-based economy.

High-quality human resources, together with science and technology, have been defined by the State and the Party as one of three strategic breakthroughs. Therefore, there should be reasonable policies to push training of science and technology human resources, especially basic sciences, to go one step ahead. 

Experts have many times voiced concern over the imbalance in majors as students rush to apply for a few hot majors, while ignoring other majors that are important for the national economy. What will happen?

Vietnam now has great opportunities to accelerate digital transformation, green transformation, a knowledge-based economy, a green economy and a digital economy. The factors that determine the success of the process are high-quality human resources, science and technology capability, and innovation.

The labor shortages in basic sciences can’t be fixed within a short time, but it will take many years to do this. 

If Vietnam cannot develop basic sciences, it will not have fundamental technologies, and if it doesn’t have fundamental technologies, it won’t have key technologies.

If Vietnam doesn’t have enough high-quality human resources in science and technology, it won’t be able to attract investments into high technology and the economy will lose competitiveness.

Some universities have taken policies to support students studying basic sciences. However, these are just short-term solutions. What will the state and MOET do in the long term to attract students to the majors?

MOET is joining forces with relevant ministries to build a plan on developing high-quality human resources to serve the development of high technology. The plan will be soon submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.

Le Huyen