Unemployed graduates: Awaiting solutions from the new Minister of Education.

Experts and educators hope that the new Minister of Education, Phung Xuan Nha, will make breakthroughs to solve the problem of rising unemployment among bachelor and master's degree holders.

The quality of higher education plays a crucial role in raising the intellectual level of the population and determining the nation's human resources.

However, in recent years, the number of universities and colleges in our country has grown rapidly (with over 440 institutions), but there has been insufficient focus on quality training. The curriculum remains broad and impractical, resulting in many graduates being unable to find jobs.

Faced with shortcomings in the higher education system, experts and educators expressed their hope that, in his new position, the new Minister of Education and Training, Phung Xuan Nha, will make sound decisions to revitalize and create breakthroughs in the quality of higher education.

People expect the new Minister of Education to solve the problem of rising unemployment among bachelor and master's degree holders (illustrative image).

The non-diploma-granting community school system needs to be developed.

As an expert in research on education for all, Professor Pham Tat Dong, Vice President of the Vietnam Association for the Promotion of Learning, believes that although Vietnam 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 yet 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 distance education so that workers, farmers, and elderly people who cannot attend school can still learn at home.

Furthermore, our country needs a system of community schools to provide post-secondary education so that any worker can improve their skills. This system doesn't necessarily need to award diplomas; its goal is to provide knowledge and skills to the people. For example, someone who has graduated from a vocational school in mechanical engineering could still learn new technological skills at community schools. Similarly, workers who have graduated from high school but are currently working in factories could learn more to improve their skills in their current field and work more efficiently.

Japan places great importance on community education, so it has established approximately 180 schools to train all citizens who did not pass the university entrance exam but wish to gain more knowledge and skills in a particular field they are pursuing.

If each locality in our country had a community or citizen university center, it would be very beneficial for developing human resource training in professions suitable for each locality.

Reorganizing the university and college system.

Currently, Vietnam has approximately 350 public universities and colleges. These institutions still rely heavily on state budget subsidies, resulting in poor training quality and a lack of breakthroughs in teaching.

Professor Pham Tat Dong, Vice President of the Vietnam Association for the Promotion of Learning

In order to change the operating model to improve the quality of training, Professor Pham Tat Dong suggested that, in his capacity as Minister of Education, Mr. Phung Xuan Nha should create a breakthrough in management and reorganize the system of universities and colleges nationwide.

Accordingly, the current higher education system must be an autonomous system, capable of independently deciding on all matters related to admissions, finance, faculty, etc. Universities that are restricted or unable to exercise their autonomy will not be able to develop. Alongside the right to autonomy, universities must also take responsibility for training and providing human resources for society.

Regarding the management of training quality, Professor Pham Tat Dong suggested to the Minister of Education that the quality of training at universities and colleges needs to be strictly controlled. The Ministry of Education and Training could dissolve or downgrade the training standards of any institution that performs poorly.

Currently, many universities in our country do not meet the standards of a university, lacking in facilities and high-quality faculty. Their training goals seem to be not focused on providing quality human resources for society, but rather on the business of education, collecting as much tuition as possible from students, with profit overshadowing their commitment to quality education.

Many students have shared that, even though they haven't registered or applied for university or college admissions, they have received acceptance letters from many schools without needing to take any exams or selection processes.

The consequence of this problem is that many universities produce graduates who cannot find jobs or have to work in fields unrelated to their studies. Thus, training human resources for the country is merely a waste of money for countless students' families without achieving any real effectiveness.

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

Currently, we classify universities into top-tier, mid-tier, and lower-tier categories. This classification method does not accurately reflect the reality of workforce training. Instead of this classification, Professor Pham Tat Dong suggests that the university system should be divided into national key universities that train high-level human resources for specific industries, and local universities that train human resources in all professions for their respective regions.

As for universities that do not meet the training criteria of the two groups mentioned above, the Ministry of Education and Training should resolutely downgrade their training level. This would reduce the number of universities in order to focus on improving quality.

According to VOV