Many changes in career choices.

(Baonghean)As of now, the process of receiving applications for the 2013 university and college entrance exams has been completed, and the Department of Education and Training has forwarded the applications to the admitting schools. Based on the application data, a shift in students' career choices is evident: the number of applications for economics-related fields has decreased, while the number for medicine and pharmacy has increased, and basic science fields have seen a slight increase. Notably, the number of applications for colleges has decreased significantly compared to previous years.

According to statistics from the Professional Education Department of the Department of Education and Training, the 2013 university and college entrance exam in the entire province had 73,292 applications (a decrease of over 10,000 applications compared to 2012). Accordingly, the percentage of applications by region was as follows: Northern region 39%, Southern region 16%, and Central region 45%, indicating a tendency for students to choose regional and local universities. Of these, 33,160 applications were for Block A, 3,183 for Block A1; 21,068 for Block B, 6,944 for Block D1, 4,189 for Block C, and 3,409 for the remaining 7 blocks (D2, D3, H, N, M, T, V). This shows that the proportion of candidates registering for the entrance exam in Group A subjects is dominant at 45.24%, while Group C subjects only account for 5.7%.

One thing that is clear is that this year the number of applications for economics, engineering, and management majors is lower than in previous years. This also reflects the results of admissions counseling at universities in particular, and career guidance by the education sector in general. The decrease in interest in economics majors is quite evident in the reduced number of applications to universities compared to 2012. Specifically: Finance Academy decreased by 480 applications; National Economics University decreased by 196 applications; University of Commerce decreased by 406 applications; University of Construction decreased by 577 applications; University of Transport decreased by 352 applications; Vinh University of Technology Education decreased by 566 applications; Hanoi University of Industry decreased by 440 applications; Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry decreased by 870 applications. Nguyen Khanh Linh (a 12th-grade student from Thanh Chuong I High School) said: “I'm in the science stream (Group A), and initially I intended to major in accounting. However, according to various sources, there is currently a surplus of manpower in the economics field, making it difficult to find jobs. Therefore, I registered to take the entrance exam for the Faculty of Agriculture. Currently, with the nationwide movement to build new rural areas and apply science and technology to agricultural production, jobs in agricultural fields will be easier to find...”

Medicine and Pharmacy remain the top choices for candidates.
(A practical session for students of Vinh Medical University).

However, for students with good or excellent academic performance, medicine and pharmacy remain the top choices. At Nguyen Xuan On High School (Dien Chau), the number of students in the selective classes applying to medical and pharmaceutical universities accounts for up to 50%, while security and military fields account for 25-30%. Ms. Phan Thi Thu Huong, Principal of Nguyen Xuan On High School, said: “Based on the applications sent to the school, most students with good or excellent academic performance choose medicine and pharmacy: Hanoi Medical University, Thai Binh Medical University, Hue Medical University, and Vinh Medical University. Following those are security and defense fields. This is because students believe in the saying 'Medicine first, Pharmacy second,' and that studying military fields ensures job prospects. The information about thousands of university and college graduates in the province being unemployed has significantly impacted their choices of schools and careers...”

Despite being the first year of organizing its own entrance exam, Vinh Medical University received 10,166 applications (an increase of over 2,000 applications compared to 2012). Meanwhile, the university's enrollment quota for undergraduate programs is only 450 students in two fields: General Medicine and Nursing; and for college-level programs, it is 800 students in four fields: Nursing, Midwifery, Medical Technology, and Medical Laboratory Technology. Mr. Nguyen Trong Tai, the school's principal, said: "Last year, the cutoff score for the first choice (NV1) in General Medicine was 20.5 points, and for the second choice (NV2) was 22.5 points; Nursing was 17.5 points; and college-level programs ranged from 11.5 to 13 points. This year, the number of applications to the school has increased sharply, while the enrollment quota is limited. This is the first time the school is organizing an independent exam, but we will prepare fully and meticulously all conditions to ensure the exam takes place safely, seriously, and with high quality...". The number of applications to schools such as Thai Binh Medical University increased by 105; Hue Medical University by 417.

The most encouraging sign this year is the slight increase in the number of applications for teacher training programs: Nghe An College of Education saw an increase of 76 applications; the total number of applications for the 14 teacher training programs at Vinh University was 4,220, with the highest numbers for Preschool Education: 1,204 applications; Primary Education: 1,886 applications; and Mathematics Education: 367 applications (double the number in 2012). Some colleges in the province experienced a sharp decrease in applications: Nghe An College of Economics and Technology: 1,073 applications (compared to 5,914 applications in 2012 and 8,500 applications in 2011). The Nghe An College of Culture and Arts only received 285 applications for the entrance exam... Explaining this issue, Mr. Nguyen Manh Ha - Head of the Professional Education Department, Department of Education and Training, said that due to the societal preference for degrees, college graduates find it very difficult to find jobs, so their choices have decreased; furthermore, due to the new regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training tightening the issue of articulation, students are no longer taking the "detour" of completing college to go to university to "standardize" their degree.

Mr. Ha added: “The number of applications for university and college entrance exams this year has decreased by more than 10,000 compared to last year. This shows that career guidance in high schools has seen positive changes, and students are now aware of their own abilities to choose suitable majors and professions. Another reason for the lower number of applications compared to last year is the new feature in this year's university and college entrance exam: after receiving the results, students will be given two score reports to submit for their second choice, so students no longer rush to submit 7-8 sets of applications like in previous years. This is a positive sign, which will significantly reduce the number of fake applications and reduce costs for facilities and personnel in organizing the university and college entrance exams.”

The classification shows that the number of candidates applying to top universities remains high; besides medicine, pharmacy, and military fields, the agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and basic science sectors are trending upwards; while economics and engineering fields are declining. This indicates that the impact of job market demand greatly influences students' choices of majors and careers...

Text and photos: THANH PHUC