VietNamNet Bridge – There are so numerous people with high education (bachelors, masters and PhDs) in Vietnam that they have been compared as the “yellow leaves in the autumn.”

This is the question that many employers raise after they interview the candidates who have master or university degrees. They wonder what the candidates learn at their schools, if they cannot fulfill the simple works required.

Many candidates receive high education, but they don’t have high qualification at all. The problem is that universities have been mushrooming in Vietnam, which allow more and more students to follow university education.

Good students, who pass the national university entrance exams, would be able to study at state owned schools with low tuitions. Those, who have worse results at the exams, would still be able to follow university education, if they accept to pay higher tuitions to study at people founded schools. Especially, the bad students still enroll in “high quality classes” which require sky high tuitions.

Hundreds of thousands of farmer families have to sell their most valuable assets to fund their children’s study at universities. However, after spending hundreds of millions of dong for the 4-5 year training, many of the children stay unemployed and feel ashamed.

“There are universities in every province and city, and each of the schools provides training in tens of majors and under different modes, from full-time to in-service and from-a-distance. Therefore, it’s not a surprise at all that many students cannot find jobs,” Nguyen Van Ky, a reader, wrote.

He went on to say that university graduates should blame themselves on the eagerness to follow the university education despite the low capability, instead of complaining about the unemployment.

A physician said that the hospital where he works, they send ten workers who finished 2-or-3-year training courses, to the in-service training courses, where they study to obtain the university degree.

The director of the hospital said he sends the staff to the training courses so as to help them obtain the university degrees, with which they would be able to open private consulting rooms. Meanwhile, the director does not think that the workers would better serve at the hospital later, when they finish the courses.

Tien Sy, an office worker, has commented that the high unemployment of the new graduates should be understood as the inevitable result of the systematic error in training.

Vietnam has been trying to produce as many university bachelors and PhDs as possible. Especially, the Ministry of Education and Training has even set up the targets in the numbers of bachelors, masters and PhDs Vietnam needs to obtain by different times.

“If you really have high qualifications, you will find a job. If you can’t, this means that you are not qualified enough, and you should not complain about this,” Sy wrote.

“I know a lot of international groups sent their staff to training establishments to look for suitable candidates. However, they cannot find as many as they want,” he continued.

Thang, who finished university last year, complained that he still cannot find a job, even though his learning records are very good.

“It’s nearly impossible to apply for the posts at state agencies,” he said. “Most of the officers working there are the relatives of the VIPs, or have good relations with the VIPs. There is no seat for the people like me, with no relation with the senior officials.”

NLD