VietNamNet Bridge - The regulations on Inter-level training have discouraged learners from continuing to study, experts have said.

 

The Ministry of Education and Training’s Circular No 55 stipulates that students, who have finished junior college and vocational schools for under 36 months, will have to attend university entrance exams if they want to follow university education.

This means that junior college graduates will have to sit the university entrance exam like high school graduates.

The circular was released several years ago, when everyone had to attend the national university entrance exam to be enrolled in universities.

The problem is that the national university entrance exam has been removed, but the circular on inter-level training remains unchanged.

From the 2015 academic year, students will not have to attend the university entrance exam. 

They will only have to sit the high school final exam and their scores will be considered for enrollment in universities.

This means that junior college graduates will also have to attend high school finals if they want to continue studying at university, though they attended the same exam many years ago.

“A paradox exists that students who have junior college degrees will still have to attend high school finals,” an expert said.

Le Lam, principal of Dai Viet Sai Gon Junior College, said the number of students applying for inter-level training courses had been decreasing dramatically since the day Circular No 55 was released. 

No one wants to wait 36 months before they can register to continue study at university. Meanwhile, waiting 36 months means that study will be interrupted for 36 months.

Lam noted that students would rather go directly to university after they finish high school, than go to junior college first before university.

The inter-level training aims to encourage people to follow higher education. The students who do not have good conditions to study at university can study at junior college first and then transfer credits to study at university later.

However, analysts said, with the current regulations, inter-level learning is not feasible.

Dr. Tran Dinh Ly, head of the training division of the HCM City Agriculture and Forestry University, said that current regulations deprived people of opportunity for “lifelong learning”.

Ly said the number of students who wanted to transfer credits to higher education at his school had dropped dramatically by 80 percent.

Chi Mai