VietNamNet Bridge - Medical vocational schools (2-year training) must upgrade into junior colleges (3-year training) or be dissolved under a new Ministry of Health (MOH) rule. 

The Le Huu Trac Medical Intermediate School

The ministry has announced that hospitals and medical centers throughout the country will no longer accept medical workers with intermediate school diplomas from 2021.

Le Viet Khuyen, former deputy director of the Ministry of Education and Training’s (MOET) University Education Department, said the decision was made to upgrade the quality of medical workers.

This is what happened to intermediate schools and junior colleges some years ago. In the past, people could work as teachers if they finished intermediate school or junior college, but they now have to finish university (4-year training) to take the job.

With such a decision, the only solution to medical intermediate schools is to upgrade into junior colleges. Meanwhile, those, who finish intermediate schools, will have to pass credit to continue studying at junior colleges.

When asked if he was sure that the quality of Vietnamese medical workers would be improved if they all have higher education level, Khuyen said the qualification has close relations with the education.

MOH has announced that hospitals and medical centers throughout the country will no longer accept medical workers with intermediate school diplomas from 2021.

“A nurse finishing intermediate school who has been working for 30 years is believed to be proficient in their works, but they don’t have broad knowledge,” Khuyen said.

“A nurse finishing intermediate school can work well, while a nurse finishing junior college not only can work well but also has knowledge about management and can use automatic devices,” he explained.

Pham Hiep from Chinese Culture University in Taiwan agrees that it is necessary to upgrade medical workers’ qualification. MOET has chosen to upgrade workers’ qualification by requiring nurses to experience a minimum of 3-year training. 

Hiep said he does not think the number of training years could be an indicator which shows the quality of learners. 

In the UK, France and Australia, students just need to study for three years to get a bachelors’ degree, while their quality is in no way worse than the students in countries with 4-year university training.

“I believe that MOH has its reasons and scientific arguments for the decision. It might consider the Japanese model,” Hiep said, adding that he hopes he can read the scientific proofs for the decision.

He warned that once the new policy takes effect, one problem will arise. 

“The problem is that the educational structure for nursing (both intermediate school and junior college exist) is not compatible with the required workers’ qualification standards (only junior college degree is accepted),” he said.

From now to 2021, both MOH and MOET will join forces to settle the problem.


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