At the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) and Hanoi University of Transport (HUT), about 700-800 students are expelled each year. They spend five years finishing a training program to become engineers. However, only 60 percent can graduate on schedule. Of the remaining, some have to leave school, while others have to repeat exams to be able to graduate the next year.

At the HCM City University of Technology, only 70 percent of students can finish school as scheduled, while 5-6 percent of students in each training course are forced to leave because of poor study results.

In the first semester of the 2021-2022 academic year, over 200 students at the HCM City University of Transport had to quit and 800 students got warnings for the first time.

Most recently, dozens of students at the HCM City Law University were expelled after getting warnings twice in the last two consecutive semesters. At the HCM City University of Agriculture and Forestry, in 2017-2022, 134 students applied for leave, while many others were forced to leave.

Tran Hoang Hai, headmaster of the HCM City University of Law, said that students need to understand that they have to study to obtain good knowledge which will be useful in their career in the future. Many students think they just need to pass exams to enter school and will automatically graduate from the school, sooner or later.

Vice Principal of the HCM City University of Technology Nguyen Thien Phuc affirmed that the school strictly pursues regulations stipulated in the national professional standards. The fact that the school expels 5-6 percent of students each training course shows its determination to ensure high training quality. 

Whom to blame?

Managers of universities believe this situation should not only be blamed on students themselves but also schools.

Tran Dinh Ly, Vice Principal of the HCM City University of Agriculture and Forestry, said many students drop out because they decide to follow other ways in their lives. Other students realize that the majors are not as suitable as they thought. Many feel shocked as they cannot adapt to the new study methods. They lag behind classmates and don’t receive support from lecturers and friends, so they decide to leave. In many cases, they don’t spend time on studies and results are unsatisfactory.

At the HCM City Industry University, about 4 percent of students are expelled each year. Nguyen Trung Nhan, head of the training division, said 4 percent is lower than the figure in the past.

To reduce the figure, the school has applied measures to improve students’ learning records, such as promoting the services of helping students study, adjusting training programs, opening free classes and allowing students to switch to other majors. The school also helps students get loans at reasonable interest rates. 

This reduces the percentage of students who have to stop studying because of financial reasons. 

Pham Thai Son, enrollment director of the HCM City Food Industry University, said the school partly takes responsibility for the expulsion of students. Sometimes lecturers are not good enough. The first thing that needs to be done is hiring better lecturers.

Le Huyen