VietNamNet Bridge – Educators have reported an increasingly high number of applicants with higher education degrees who pass credits to study at vocational schools.

The bachelors who go to vocational schools

Le Thu Hoa from Nghe An province, graduated from a junior college (a 3-year training school) majoring in business accounting. However, the junior college degree cannot help her find a job.

So while waiting for job opportunities to come, Hoa decided to take a course on restaurant administration provided by Saigontourist School.

Nguyen Hong Phuoc, another applicant to the school, also said he has a junior college degree in business administration, but he has decided to try another career.

“I have submitted my CV to many different companies. But I have received no replies,” he lamented.

According to Tran Van Hung, Headmaster of Saigontourist, which specializes in providing training courses on tourism and hotel services, about 30 percent of the total of 600 learners at the school have university and junior college degrees. Many have masters degrees.

“Though they have higher education degrees, they remain unemployed. Therefore, they think they should try other careers,” Hung explained.

Other vocational schools have also reported that 20-30 percent of their learners have university or junior college degrees.

According to Le Lam, President of Dai Viet School, 308 out of the 1,812 students of the school in 2011 finished universities or postgraduate courses. Dang Van Sang, Headmaster of Anh Sang Vocational School, also said that up to 30 percent of the school’s students are unemployed bachelors or masters.

In most cases, the unemployed bachelors and masters are those who majored in social sciences, while the demand for workers in the fields is not high. Therefore, they would rather go back to school and follow the “hot” majors which promise better job prospects. These students are dubbed as “postgraduates at vocational schools”.

The great waste in education

The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has reported that, in the fourth quarter of last year, 72,000 more workers with university or junior college degrees joined the ranks of the unemployed.

Nevertheless, the increase in the number of unemployed workers with higher education seems not to faze educators. More and more universities have been set up, with the number of students enrolled in the institutions increasing year by year.

At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Training continues to grant higher enrollment quotas to the schools, in apparent disregard of the current labor market and labor market forecasts.

An unofficial report said that 70 percent of high school graduates go to universities and junior colleges, while only 30 percent attend vocational schools.

Sang said the high number of unemployed workers with higher education is an indication of a great waste of this society’s resources. One student typically spends no less than VND100 million to complete his university education, which is spent on tuition and other expenses. He must also devote four years of his life to study at a university, and often ends up unemployed.

Thanh Mai