University is no longer the only choice for many good students.

Joy from vocational school

These days, Ha Van Bao, Nguyen Dinh Toan and Nguyen Hong Quan - students of the Faculty of Automotive Technology, Vietnam - Germany Vocational College have just returned from the National Competition "Startup Ideas for Vocational Education Students" with the Project "River Garbage Collector".

The project was awarded the Encouragement Prize, which was a great motivation for the group of authors, because they were just students and were in the process of doing an internship and gaining experience.

Previously, at this provincial competition, the project also won the third prize. As one of the three authors of the project, Ha Van Bao said: The project "River Garbage Collector" may have a familiar name, but we believe that our product has its own advantages because it is compact, meets domestic manufacturing technology, is highly mobile, and can move flexibly on canals, streams, rivers, and lakes.

Student Ha Van Bao won the prize at the "National Vocational Education Student Startup Ideas" contest. Photo: NVCC

At the age of 20, Ha Van Bao also said that participating in the national competition was a special experience for him when studying at a vocational school. Therefore, although he studied at Quy Hop 2 High School for 3 years, Ha Van Bao achieved the title of excellent student in all aspects. In the high school graduation exam, Bao had a fairly high score in the A block, over 20 points and had many opportunities to get into universities. However, in the end, Bao chose a vocational school for the simple reason that it was close to home, low cost and he saw many opportunities to choose from after graduation.

Bao also shared that it did not take him too long to decide to apply to the Faculty of Automotive Technology, because this is a profession that he has long been passionate about and loved. This male student also surprised many teachers, because since his first year, Bao has always shown his eagerness to learn and seriousness in studying, and he was selected to participate in a vocational competition when he had been enrolled in school for less than a year. In his second year, Bao applied for an internship at a repair shop and registered for an additional course on electricity at an outside vocational training center...

Student Nguyen Dinh Toan is one of the most outstanding students recognized by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in 2022. Photo: NVCC

In the same group as Bao, Nguyen Dinh Toan is also an excellent student of the school and he has just been included in the list of 100 outstanding vocational education students in 2022, recognized by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

This is also a worthy result for a male student who scored 27.5 points in the high school graduation exam but did not apply to university. Instead, Toan decided to study at a vocational school and pursue his passion for machinery and technology. In addition to the National Encouragement Prize for the "River Garbage Collector" Project, Toan also won the Third Prize at the provincial level in 2021 with the "Multi-purpose Plow and Harrow" Project.

Currently, although he is only a second-year student, with his excellent achievements, Toan has many career opportunities, such as working at domestic enterprises, working abroad, and he is also being trained and encouraged by the school to become a lecturer in the future.

After many years of teaching at the Faculty of Automotive Technology and being a direct teacher of Ha Van Bao and Nguyen Dinh Toan, teacher Nguyen Quoc Cuong - Vietnam - Germany Vocational College said: In the past, we still thought that only average students could register.vocational schoolBut now, the trend has changed and many students choose to study a trade, because this is the profession they love and are passionate about, and therefore, during the learning process, the learning quality is also better and more effective.

Personally, I was also a student of the school. After graduating, I was retained to teach, so I often encourage students to try hard and even though they are vocational students, the opportunities for development are still equal to all other universities.

College is no longer the only path

Career guidance is a positive solution of the Education and Training sector to provide career guidance for students, develop vocational education, and contribute to improving the quality of human resource training.

Currently, the streaming is carried out for two groups, which are junior high school graduates and high school graduates. While there are mixed opinions about streaming for junior high school graduates (grade 9), streaming at high school is easier and more natural, with the rate of students being streamed reaching nearly 40%. Compared to the whole country, the rate of 12th grade students in Nghe An is higher than the average.

Students Nguyen Dinh Toan and Ha Van Bao with teachers during a practical session. Photo: My Ha

Talking about the streaming, teacher Dang Ky - Principal of Nghi Loc 5 High School said: In our school, the number of students who are streamed usually accounts for about 50% and only students who are truly capable can register for university. The school also often guides students to choose the right path that suits their abilities and family circumstances. More importantly, it directs students to jobs that are easy to find after graduation.

Thanks to the good determination of career orientation, in recent years, for many 12th graders, university is no longer the only way to establish a career. At Vietnam - Korea Industrial Technical College, it is not difficult for the new students entering this school year to find students with high test scores but not entering university.

Le Anh Tuan - a student majoring in Mechatronics - has just graduated from grade 12 - Nghi Loc 4 High School with a score of 25.25 points in the A block exam. At the beginning of this school year, Tuan entered school 2 weeks later than his classmates because he was waiting for the university entrance exam results. However, despite having been admitted to Da Nang University of Technology, Tuan finally chose a vocational school. Sharing the reason, Tuan added: With my family's conditions, it is quite difficult to pay for a student to study away from home for 4 years and I also don't know if it will be easy to find a job after graduation. I chose a vocational school because the study time is short and the opportunity to work is quite easy, even before I graduate.

Class time of students at Vietnam - Korea College. Photo: My Ha

In Tuan’s class 12A2, his case is not unique, because currently more than half of the students in the class choose to study abroad, work, learn a trade or go abroad to work. The number of graduates going to university is just over 10 students and most of them are in the top of their class. This trend will probably continue in the coming years, because nowadays, the perception of choosing a school and choosing a career has changed among parents and students.

On the vocational school side, there are also many policies to encourage and attract students, such as granting scholarships to students with high entrance scores, creating opportunities for students to study foreign languages ​​for free to work abroad. Currently, the rate of vocational school students who have jobs or are recruited right at school is also nearly 90%, so the number of students enrolling in vocational schools is expected to continue to increase in the coming years.

According to the plan, in the 2021-2025 period, Nghe An strives for at least 40% of junior high school graduates and at least 45% of high school graduates to continue studying at vocational training institutions.