Several majors at Hue College of Arts under Hue University are in danger of being discontinued due to a lack of students.

Data from the college showed that it only enrolled 63 students, about 30 per cent of its target last year, according to the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

For example, the graphic-design major, expected to enroll 10 students, enrolled none. The sculpture major enrolled one student while their target was five students. The art major enrolled three students when its target was set at 30. The major of fashion design enrolled 10 students and the major of interior design enrolled 10 students while their targets were respectively 25 and 60.

The number of students enrolled in the college has slowed since 2012, with the number of enrolled students always below target.

The college received 153 students in 2012 while its target was 180. In 2013, it enrolled 144 students when its target was 260. In 2014, it got 153 students while its target was 225.

However, in 2015, the number of enrolled student sharply decreased to 84 students, 40 per cent of the target.

Nguyen Thi Hoa, head of the graphic-design major of the college said the major could be closed if it failed to enroll students this year. If it enrolled no students, it would become the third consecutive year the major enrolled had no students.

This could lead to a lack of graphic-design artists in the near future, she said.

The same situation also happened to physical education and architecture majors under Hue University. Physical education only enrolled 14 students, reaching 9.4 per cent of its target in 2016. The architecture major enrolled 54 students, 56 per cent of its goal.

Explaining the situation, Associate Professor Phan Thanh Binh, principal of the college said job opportunities for students of art-related majors were believed to be scarcer than others, thus, the number of students studying arts has fallen year after year, he said.

Another reason was students preferred studying art-related majors in HCM City than in Hue because they could get more job opportunities in HCM City, he said.

Additionally, private colleges enrolling students on art-related majors with lower enrollment scores added to the problem, he said.

Lastly, the college had not promoted itself well to attract more students.

Binh said the college’s management board was planning to fix the situation. One solution was to boost advertising of the college via its website.

Activities to enhance interactions between the school and society would be increased, he said.

The Hue College of Arts was established in 1957 under the management of the Ministry of Culture and Information. The college was handed over to the Ministry of Education and Training in 1994.

Nguyen Van Toan, former principal of Hue University said since 1994, the college seemed to focus on training human resources working in art-related fields rather than artists.

Toan suggested the Government and the Ministry of Education and Training consider issuing a special policy to run art schools across the country, including the college.

For example, there should be more investments in these schools to cultivate talented people as well as training art-related human resouces to the requirements of the State, he said.

VNS