VietNamNet Bridge - Going to university is no longer the only choice for Vietnamese high-school graduates. Thirty two percent of students don’t intend to continue at university, but plan to work or go to vocational schools after they finish high school.

More than 16,000 Hanoi students registered to attend high school finals at the exam rooms controlled by the Hanoi Education and Training Department. 

Le Thi Trang in Thanh Xuan district said she doesn’t think spending four years to follow university education and struggling to look for jobs later is a good idea.

“I heard from TV that hundreds of thousands of university graduates are jobless,” she explained. 

“I will spend my time to learn to become a cook,” she said. “No worries that you may become redundant if you are a good cook”.

Nguyen Thanh Dan, the father of Trang, confirmed that he and his wife thought very carefully before making the decision. 

“University degrees are very imposing. But it won’t be anything if it can’t help you find a good job,” he said. 

“It is not easy to find jobs in a society where there is abundance of university graduates and deficiency of skilled workers,” he commented.

Going to university is no longer the only choice for Vietnamese high-school graduates. Thirty two percent of students don’t intend to continue at university, but plan to work or go to vocational schools after they finish high school.

Nguyen Manh Hai in Dong Da district said he would spend time on mechanical engineering apprenticeship after attending finals. 

“Two of my cousins who finished economic school have been jobless two years,” he said. “I believe that if I have a diploma in mechanics, I can earn more money than university graduates."

Meanwhile, Le Quang Ngoc in Thanh Tri district said that she would become a worker at the Thanh Tri Industrial Zone (IZ).

“The IZ is near my house. Therefore, I can save money on room rent,” she said.

A report released by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) showed that 32 percent of high-school students don’t intend to continue studying at university this year, an increase of 4 percent over 2015.

According to Le Huu Lap from the Posts & Telecommunications Institute of Technology, there are three reasons behind the students’ decision not to go to university. 

First, many workers with bachelor’s degree are jobless.Second, going to university is no longer the choice for students.vAnd third, students don’t go to university because of the families’ limited financial capability.

Pham Thi Ly from Nguyen Tat Thanh University also commented that students tend to be more practical. 

“The high number of unemployed university graduates has forced students to reconsider the value of the bachelor’s degree,” she said.

Tien Phong