Student streaming after secondary school: Still open

(Baonghean) -In order to increase early student streaming in a direction that is suitable for socio-economic conditions and human resource needs, the education and training sector has set a target of attracting 30% of junior high school graduates to attend vocational and professional secondary schools by 2020. However, this target is currently "stuck". In fact, most students after graduating from junior high school go on to high school or to supplementary high school. This shows that the streaming of students after junior high school is still left open.

In the 2011-2012 school year, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Secondary School (Hung Nguyen) had 97% of students graduate, 62% of students passed the high school entrance exam, the remaining 38% either re-take the exam or go to the South to find work, no students attend vocational schools. Talking about the work of directing secondary school students, Mr. Dang Cong Than, the school's principal, said: "Most of them want to go to high school, few of them want to go to vocational school. The school has also established a career guidance committee, focusing on propaganda and orientation for students; inviting parents and students who are likely to fail the high school entrance exam to discuss, but it is not enough."

In Vinh City, mobilizing students after secondary school to study vocational training is much more difficult. According to Mr. Ninh Viet Nam, Principal of Hung Dung Secondary School, the work of directing students after secondary school in the city is almost "blocked". Due to the characteristics of urban areas, the economic conditions of families are better, they all want their children to graduate from secondary school, then go to high school and college, university. Not only that, in the city, there are many public and non-public high schools, which have "absorbed" all the students who graduated from secondary school. Faced with that difficulty, the school has struggled to find a solution.

That is around March every year, after the first semester results, the school invites students and parents of 9th graders with poor academic performance to discuss and orient them to vocational training, analyzing to help them understand that, with their abilities, they cannot pass the entrance exam to high schools, while, in the same 3-year vocational training period, they have both a high school diploma and a vocational diploma. In April, the school coordinates with a number of vocational schools and businesses in the city to advise and guide students, helping them access preferential policies when studying vocational training, job opportunities for them after graduating from vocational secondary school... By doing this, in the 2011-2012 school year, the whole school had 5 students who voluntarily did not take the 10th grade entrance exam but registered for vocational training. It is expected that this school year, the number of students registering for vocational training will increase by a few students compared to last year.

In 2010, the Director of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An issued Official Dispatch No. 670/SGDĐT-GDCN on career guidance and student orientation after junior high school and high school. It clearly states the tasks of colleges and vocational training colleges to urgently develop programs and complete the compilation of vocational training curriculum for the target group of students graduating from junior high school; to strengthen facilities, technical equipment, teaching staff, teachers and management staff to meet the learning requirements of junior high school graduates entering vocational training.

For the Department of Education and Training, establish a steering committee for career guidance and student streaming after junior high school; assign principals of junior high schools to organize propaganda to parents and senior students about career guidance and streaming after junior high school. However, up to now, the work of streaming students after junior high school has not achieved the desired results. When the enrollment season comes, high schools are under great pressure, while vocational schools have quotas but no candidates to recruit.

Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Secondary School (Hung Nguyen) during class.

According to statistics from the Nghe An Department of Education and Training, on average, the annual enrollment rate for grade 10 high school in the province accounts for about 75% of junior high school graduates. In the 2012-2013 school year alone, 34,462 students were enrolled in grade 10 high school, accounting for 74.75% of junior high school graduates in the 2011-2012 school year. The remaining students, the rate of studying at vocational schools is not much. Currently, Nghe An has 5 vocational colleges, but in total all courses have only 157 junior high school graduates studying. According to Mr. Nguyen Manh Ha, Head of the Vocational Education Department, Nghe An Department of Education and Training: "If these students (junior high school graduates who do not enter high school) do not receive vocational training, but just go straight to the labor market, it will not only be a waste of human capital, but may also create an additional burden for society.

The biggest obstacle to the current career orientation and streaming for students is that it has not yet resolved the concerns of parents when sending their children to vocational training. On the other hand, vocational schools are training according to the tastes of learners without paying attention to the jobs needed by society, so after finishing vocational training, many students cannot find jobs. Many employers still value degrees, and very few places recruit graduates from vocational secondary schools. Many general schools do not pay attention to career education, and lack coordination with relevant social forces to promote this work.

In order to do a good job of student streaming after junior high school (and even after high school), in the immediate future, competent authorities from the central to local levels need to issue a system of documents to unify the direction of this work; the general education, professional education and vocational training systems must have common direction to clearly define tasks, create close ties, and work together to stream students. For vocational schools in particular, there must be regulations for vocational training institutions and employers to participate in career guidance education for students...

Thanh Phuc