Excellent students do not want to become teachers because of low salaries and hard work, while less capable students want to teach, but are often rejected.

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), in an effort to upgrade teacher quality, has stated that high school graduates must get at least 17 for three exam subjects at the national finals to be eligible to enroll in pedagogical schools.

The decision was released after criticism about the low qualifications of teachers, attributed to the low quality of pedagogical schools’ input students. In the 2017-2018 academic year, some schools accepted to admit the students who got only 10 exam score. 

Education experts then showed their deep concern about enrollment, citing students who got only 3.5 for each exam subject. 

The Gia Lai Junior College of Education is one of the schools that need students. It has set very high admission exam scores. Students must get 23 at least from the high-school finals to be eligible for the literature faculty, 20 to apply for chemistry and history majors, 19 for English and 18 for math and physics.

Nguyen Thu Ha, vice rector of the college, said the decision was made as the last resort. It was foreseeable that the number of students who got 17 and higher was not enough for the school to maintain majors. Therefore, the school would rather fail students than receive some learners.

The Nghe An Junior College of Education has set the required admission score of 20 for training majors, but no student can meet the requirements.

Vice rector of the college, Tran Anh Tu, admitted that it is very difficult to find students. Only several students registered to study math, literature and biology teaching, but they were refused as their scores were lower than 17, the required minimum score set by MOET. 

Tran Xuan Hoa from the Central College of Education said the school needs 20 students for arts, music, citizenship education majors, but it has not found enough students so far.

MOET’s Nguyen Thi Kim Phung said on Lao Dong that the problem is unavoidable during education reform. She affirmed that only some schools are meeting difficulties in seeking students, while prestigious schools are satisfied with their enrollment.

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Mai Thanh