VietNamNet Bridge – After people-founded universities, it’s now junior colleges which have voiced the complaints about the lack of students.

While the low required floor marks are believed to satisfy people-founded universities (4-year training) because they would find more students to enroll, this would be not the good news for junior colleges (3-year training).

The lowering of the requirements would make more students eligible for studying at universities, which means that only few students would be left for junior colleges to enroll.

The floor marks are the minimum marks students must get from the national university and junior college entrance exams in order to be eligible for registering to study at any schools in Vietnam. The floor marks are set annually for different exam groups by the Ministry of Education and Training MOET.

The ministry reportedly plans to set up the floor marks equal or lower than the required floor marks in 2012.

Dr. Tran Manh Thanh, Deputy President of the Bach Viet Junior College, said the ministry’s intention aims to save people founded universities, which keep complaining about the lack of students over the last many years. Meanwhile, the ministry does not pay appropriate attention to the sources of students for junior colleges.

Other junior colleges have also voiced the same complaint that it would be very difficult to find students this year. In general, entering state owned universities is the top choice of students. If they cannot enroll in the schools, they would go to people founded universities to obtain university degrees. Meanwhile, going to junior colleges or vocational schools would be the last choice.

Thanh said he has got really surprised when hearing that the required floor marks this year would be lower than that in the previous year, even though the exam questions are believed to be easier.

Junior colleges hope they can find learners from the students, who failed the exams to universities and register to study at junior colleges as their second option.

Meanwhile, only 200,000 students attended the entrance exams to junior colleges, a sharp fall from the figures of the previous years, which showed the decreased attractiveness of the schools.

Bach Viet, one of the best-known junior colleges, has also reported the decrease of 30 percent of examinees

Also according to Thanh, there are 2,800 examinees who got the floor marks and higher, while the school plans to enroll 2,400. However, only 60-70 percent of the students would enroll in the school, which means that the school would still lack students for many training majors.

Dr. Le Thanh Binh, President of the HCM City Industry and Trade College, also foresaw that junior colleges would find it hard to enroll enough students. A lot of students attended both the university and junior college entrance exams, and they would rather go to universities if they pass the exams, even though the universities are not the satisfactory ones.

Doan Thai Thanh, Head of the Training Division of the HCM City Food Processing University, which both provides 4-year and 3-year training, said though the school only requires low marks for 3-year training students, it has anticipated that it would be very difficult to find enough students.

 “Junior colleges have not shouted for help like people founded universities. However, if the current situation continues, junior colleges would no longer exist,” Thanh warned.

NLD