VietNamNet Bridge - Going to university was the top choice of the majority of students finishing high school. However, the high number of unemployed university graduates has made students and their parents rethink their decision. 

12th graders have begun registering the exam subjects for the high school finals expected to take place in July. Under the current regulations, they will have three compulsory tests in math, literature and foreign languages. 

Meanwhile, the fourth exam subject will be optional, i.e. students can choose one of the following subjects – geography, history, biology, physics and chemistry.

School reports showed a high percentage of students choosing to take geography test. The proportion is 85-90 percent at many high schools. Meanwhile, very few students have decided to take biography and history tests.

It is a surprise that many students want to take geography test. The lsubject, together with history, was not the choice of many students in the last two years. 

School reports showed a high percentage of students choosing to take geography test. The proportion is 85-90 percent at many high schools.

Geography was a subject belonging to C-group exam (literature, history and geography). Only the students who registered to study social sciences would be interested in C-group exam. 

Meanwhile, the number of students who follow social sciences studies has been decreasing dramatically in recent years because students cannot see good job opportunities from the majors.

What is behind the changes in students’ minds?

Do Tan Ngoc, a high school teacher, commented on Giao Duc Viet Nam that students nowadays had more practical outlook about high school finals and about their future careers.

The high unemployment rate of university graduates has made students rethink their ‘university education dream’. It is estimated that more than 200,000 workers with higher education are jobless. Many of them have to work at factories –  jobs that only require a high school diploma. 

Local newspapers have reported that tens of students of the Tay Nguyen University have given up learning because they are not sure if they can find jobs after graduation.

Nguyen Dac Vuong, a teacher of Huynh Thuc Khang High School in Quang Ngai City, noted that students chose to take the geography test because they try to get the best results for the high school finals, while they don’t target university education.

If students want to continue studying at university after finishing high school, they would choose to attend physics, chemistry or biography tests, because they will need to show the scores from the exam subjects to universities.

Geography proves to be an easy subject compared with others, and therefore, can bring higher scores to students.

“Geography questions are short, easy to understand. Meanwhile, students can use an atlas when analyzing figures. Students can easily get high scores from the exam subject,” Vuong explained.


GDVN