Vietnam is facing a shortage of high-quality information technology (IT) workers. This is a problem that has existed for many years but has not been solved yet.

The short time for training in programming and the unreasonable distribution of IT lessons for different education levels is one of the reasons.

To solve the problem, experts at a seminar on digital human resources development held recently suggested that lessons on programming should be included in the general education program, especially for high school students. This would allow Vietnamese students to access technology soon and get ready to join the labor market.

Nguyen Thanh Son, vice chair of the Vietnam Association of Educational Psychology, said, Vietnamese are very intelligent, but Vietnam is known as a country that provides low-cost labor force.

In Vietnam, unskilled workers earn only VND5-7 million a month each, while workers at technology firms just need a 2 sq m desk and a computer to write codes and have  productivity hundreds of times higher.

“It is now the right time for Vietnam to produce a workforce which is not cheap, but provides high-quality commodities,” Son said.

To Hong Nam, deputy head of the IT Agency under the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), said that in order to have high-quality students for universities, it is necessary to equip general school students with knowledge, thinking and skills in mathematics, STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and programming.

He believes that capable students should be introduced to programming when they enter high school. They can join the labor market when they finish high school and the general education program.

Aptech Vietnam CEO Chu Tuan Anh agreed with the opinion that Vietnamese students should br familiar with programming early. In developed countries such as the US, UK and South Korea, general school students master some programming languages such as Python and Java before they enter university.

Vietnamese students only have four years at university to study programming, and most of the time is spent on elementary and basic learning subjects.

“It is impossible to expect Vietnamese students to master new technologies within a short time,” Anh commented.

Hoang Van Luoc from Da Tri Tue School, one of the educators who introduced programming skills in high school, believes that the next Vietnamese generations need to grasp and access technology quickly, especially AI and Big Data.

“It is necessary to teach technology and programming at general schools right now,” Luoc said.

“After three years, students will obtain high school diploma and have necessary programming skills. They even can go working right after the graduation to earn money to feed their families,” he added.

The experts believes that getting high school students familiar with IT and modern technologies is a feasible mission. Teaching high school students to program will not only help Vietnam solve the shortage of high-quality workers, but also bring great benefits to students.

N. L. Huong, a parent in Hanoi, said she supports the idea of providing STEM education to general school students following the success story about her daughter.

At first, Huong felt worried about her decision to allow her daughter to learn programming when the girl was in the 10th grade. She was not sure if the daughter could follow the training program, and she did not know what she needed to do, if the daughter could not follow it.

But she now can sigh with relief because she made a right decision. Her daughter finished a training course on programming at the same time when she finished high school. The girl has had offers to several domestic universities.

Huong said her daughter changed a lot during the three years at high school. Learning programming helps young people practice logical thinking, which allows them to study other subjects in a methodical and scientific way.

“Learning programming also helps children form a mindset to write essays, CVs and persuade employers. The mindset is not only helpful to young people at work, but also useful in the future when they need to make decisions in their lives,” Huong said.

“Learning programming can prepare students for the future job market,” she added.

Trong Dat