VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has instructed universities not to enroll students for the vocational training (2-year training). However, a lot of universities still try to retain the training level.

Still asking for quotas

The HCM City University of Technical Education has announced that it is enrolling 500 students for the six vocational training majors.

Deputy President of the school Do Van Dung said that in previous years, the number of vocational training students was counted in the total number of the school. However, as MOET has decided that universities are not allowed to enroll students for vocational training, the school has assigned the school of engineering practice, a unit of the school, to take care for the enrolment.

The Hong Bang International University, a people founded school, has announced the plan to enroll 450 students for the vocational training level this year. An officer of the school said the school is receiving applications, and that students would start their study in the first phase on March 25, and the second phase on April 29.

When asked why the school continues enrolling students for the vocational training in 2012, the officer said that the school still has not used up the quota allocated for 2011; therefore, it plans to use the 2011’s quota this year.

A lot of universities have asked MOET to retail the vocational training and they are anxiously awaiting the ministry’s decision. Nguyen Xuan Hoan, Deputy President of the HCM City Industry University, said that the school has asked for the permission to continue enrolling 5000 students, the same with last year’s.

Hoan said that the school cannot respond to emergency if the MOET tells it to stop the vocational training immediately.

Phan Thai Son, Deputy Head of the Training Division of the HCM City Food Industry University, said that the predecessor of the school was a vocational school. Therefore, the number of vocational training students accounts for 1/3 of the total students of the school, and if the school has to stop the training, it would suffer heavily.

Son said he hopes MOET would consider the current conditions of the school and allow the school to enroll 1000 students in 2012.

Lecturers will become redundant?

Nguyen Thi Mai Binh, Head of the Training Division of the Hung Vuong people founded University, said that the school had 400-500 new vocational training students every year in the previous years. Now with the new decision, the school will have to cut some jobs, which means that vocational training lecturers would become redundant.

Nguyen Xuan Hoan from the HCM City Industry University, also said in previous years, the school enrolled 5000 students for vocational training every year, and that the school has hundreds of lecturers running the classes.

“Where the lecturers would go, if the school cannot maintain the training?” he questioned, adding that a lot of teaching aids would be thrown away, which is really a big waste.

Pham Thai Son has also expressed his worry about the fate of the vocational training lecturers, saying that the 100 lecturers still do not know what they would do, while they are incapable enough to teach at the university level.

Dung has admitted that this is a reasonable decision to ask universities to focus on the university training. However, he thinks that the watchdog agency needs to give schools the time long enough for schools to get adapted to the new circumstances.

Especially, the universities which have been upgraded from vocational schools would face big difficulties if they cannot enroll students for the training level any longer.

Source: NLD