Unemployed graduates: Waiting for answers from the new Minister of Education

Experts and educators hope that the new Minister of Education Phung Xuan Nha will make a breakthrough to solve the problem of increasing unemployment among bachelors and masters.

The quality of university education plays a very important role in improving people's knowledge and determining the human resources of the country.

However, in recent times, the number of universities and colleges in our country has grown rapidly (with more than 440 schools) but has not focused on quality training, and the curriculum is still scattered and impractical, causing many graduates to be unable to find jobs.

Faced with the shortcomings of the university education system, experts and teachers expressed their hope that in his new position, the new Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha will have the right decisions to revive and create a breakthrough in the quality of university education.

People expect the new Minister of Education to solve the problem of increasing unemployment among bachelors and masters (illustrative photo)

A non-diploma community school system needs to be developed.

As a research expert on education for all, Professor Pham Tat Dong, Vice President of the Vietnam Association for Promoting Education, said that although our country has more than 440 universities and colleges established to meet the lifelong learning needs of many people in society, the distance education system has not been developed.

Therefore, it is hoped that in his new position, the new Minister of Education and Training, Phung Xuan Nha, will have policies and solutions to develop a distance education system so that workers, farmers, and the elderly who cannot go to school can still study at home.

In addition, our country needs to have a community school system that provides post-secondary training so that any worker can still improve their qualifications. This school system does not necessarily train and then grant them a diploma, but the goal is still to provide knowledge and skills to the people. For example, a person who has graduated from a mechanical vocational school can still learn some new knowledge and technology skills at community schools. Or workers who have graduated from high school but are currently working in factories and enterprises can study more to supplement their qualifications and skills in the profession they are doing to make their work more effective.

Japan is a country that places great importance on developing education for the community, so this country has established about 180 schools to train all people who failed the university entrance exam but really want to learn more about the knowledge and skills of the profession they are pursuing.

If each locality in our country has a community or civic university center, it will be very good for developing human resource training in professions suitable for each locality.

Reorganizing the university and college system

Currently, our country has about 350 public universities and colleges. The operation of these schools still depends on the "subsidy" of the State budget, so the training quality is still weak, and there is no breakthrough in teaching.

Prof. Dr. Pham Tat Dong, Vice President of Vietnam Association for Promoting Education

In order to change the operating model to promote training quality, Professor Pham Tat Dong said that, as Minister of Education, Mr. Phung Xuan Nha should create a breakthrough in management and rearrange the university and college system nationwide.

Accordingly, the current university education system must be an autonomous system, able to independently decide on all issues regarding enrollment, finance, lecturers, etc. Universities that are limited or do not promote autonomy will not be able to develop. Along with the right to autonomy, schools must take responsibility for training and providing human resources for society.

Regarding the management of training quality, Prof. Dr. Pham Tat Dong recommended to the commander of the education sector that it is necessary to strictly control the training quality at universities and colleges. The Ministry of Education and Training can dissolve or downgrade schools with poor training quality.

Because currently, our country has many schools that are not worthy of university level, lacking in facilities and high-quality teaching staff. Their training goal seems not to provide quality human resources for society but to do educational business, collecting as much tuition from students as possible and letting profits "overshadow" their training commitment.

Many students confided that, although they have not registered or applied for university or college, they have received admission letters from many schools without having to take any exams or admissions.

The consequence of the above problem is that many universities produce graduates who cannot find jobs or have to work in the wrong field. Thus, training human resources for the country is just a waste of money for many students’ families and is not effective.

In addition to managing training quality, the education sector needs to rearrange and reclassify universities.

Currently, we are classifying universities into top, middle and bottom groups. This classification is not close to the reality of training human resources. Instead of classifying in the above form, Prof. Dr. Pham Tat Dong believes that the university system should be divided into groups of national key universities that train high-level human resources for various industries and local universities that train human resources in all industries for that place.

As for universities that do not meet the training criteria of the above two groups, the Ministry of Education and Training should resolutely lower their training level. Thus, the university training system will be reduced in quantity to focus on improving quality./.

According to VOV