VietNamNet Bridge - As more high school students decide not to apply to university, many universities are competing to attract applications. 

The Hanoi University of Technology, one of the most prestigious schools in Vietnam, received 15,000 applicants in 2015. Only 12,621 examinees registered to attend the entrance exam to the school this year.

Tran Hong Quan, former Minister of Education and Training, predicted that fewer students would apply for universities this year. 

Many students have decided to go to vocational school because hundreds of thousands of university graduates are jobless.

Local education departments all have reported an increase in the number of students going to vocational schools. 

The reported number of students who have not registered to study at universities has increased by 20 percent. 

However, the figure, according to the Association of Universities and Junior Colleges, must be 30 percent.

As more high school students decide not to apply to university, many universities are competing to attract applications.

Universities have been warned that it would be not easy to enroll enough students this year. 

In fact, many universities, especially private schools, have been complaining about the lack of students for many years. However, the situation is expected to be even more serious in the future.

Quan, who is now chair of the Association of Universities and Junior Colleges, warned that many schools would have to shut down.

“There are two options for the schools, either they have to be sold, or merged with others,” Quan said, adding that this is unavoidable.

The HCM City University of Technology (Hutech), for example, has taken over the University of Economics & Finance. Though the two schools stay as two independent entities, they both belong to the same investor. A computing group has taken over Hong Bang University and Ba Ria-Vung Tau University. Some junior colleges have merged with universities.

The representative of a junior college put under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said the number of students applying for the school dropped dramatically in the last three years.

“We have to send staff to mountainous areas in the north to look for students. If the situation cannot improve, we may have to shut down the school,” he said.

Quan of the Association of Universities and Junior Colleges said that merger & acquisition is inevitable in education development and the process will result in the establishment of education groups.

“This is quite reasonable: the fates and the future of schools will be determined by the market, while schools which cannot survive the competition will have to leave the market,” he said.

Tien Phong