Thach Thi Thanh Danh from Soc Trang province has registered to study network administration at the HCMC Polytechnic Intermediate School (2-year training).

With a 23 score from the national high school finals, Danh can apply to many universities, but has decided to go to vocational school. 

Explaining the decision, she said she wants to finish study soon and find a job. If she has favorable conditions in the future, she will follow higher education to obtain bachelor’s degree.

Tran Thanh Ngoc is now attending Viet Giao Intermediate School, but she was a student at HCMC Banking University, one of the most prestigious schools in Vietnam, three years ago. 

Many more students, aware of market demand and the unemployment rate among graduates, are choosing to attend vocational school instead of university.

After one year of study at the university, she realized that she did want to work at a bank. She decided to give up her study and enroll in vocational school where she is trained in restaurant management.

Ngoc’s decision to drop out of college was met with an outcry from her family members and friends. But Ngoc did not change her mind. 

“I am not sure if I would go to university in the future, but I am planning to follow training courses in Australia or Singapore,” Ngoc said.

Observers said more and more students are choosing to go to vocational school instead of junior college or university. In the past, going to vocational school was just a ‘last resort’ for students who could not pass the entrance exams to universities. But now, even students with high exam scores also choose vocational school.

Dang Van Sang, headmaster of the Polytechnic School of HCMC, said about 15 percent of the students are eligible for studying at universities but still register to study at the school. 

Meanwhile, the number of students with a bachelor’s degree registering to study at the school is higher, about 20-30 percent.

Unlike previous years, many universities are complaining that it is difficult to enroll students this year. The heads of some universities said they wondered where students had gone. 

Tran Phuong, headmaster of Viet Giao School, commented that students now are being more practical than they were in the past. They have realized that bachelor’s degree cannot ensure good jobs for them. Many university graduates remain redundant and have to go back to school. 

Meanwhile, Trung thinks students go to vocational school because of reasonable tuition, just VND7 million a year, but it is more and more costly to study at universities.

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Mai Thanh