With the official removal of the minimum score requirement, a perfect 10/3 score is still sufficient to pass the university entrance exam.
This is entirely possible, as starting from the 2018 admissions season, all universities and colleges nationwide (except teacher training colleges) will have autonomy in determining their admission cutoff scores. The opportunity to enter university will expand for all candidates, but this will also raise concerns about the quality of education.
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| In the near future, opportunities to enter university will be more abundant for candidates, as universities will independently determine their admission cutoff scores. (Illustrative image: Hai Nguyen) |
The possibility of the school "scavenging" for whatever resources are available.
In 2018, the Ministry of Education and Training officially abolished the minimum quality assurance threshold (cutoff score) for non-teacher training programs. This is a completely new point in the admissions regulations recently issued by the ministry.
Over the years, the issue of whether to maintain or abolish the minimum admission score has sparked multi-faceted debate. Private universities and colleges have urged the Ministry of Education and Training to remove the minimum score limit, arguing that it would create difficulties for their student recruitment. Meanwhile, many public universities still want to maintain it, believing that the Ministry's minimum score is a necessary "barrier" to improving the quality of university education.
Although still controversial, the regulation has been passed, officially granting universities the responsibility to make their own admissions decisions. And it's not unlikely that in the future, some universities will resort to indiscriminate enrollment, disregarding the abilities and backgrounds of applicants to generate revenue, turning the institution into a diploma-selling machine. Applicants could easily choose a university even if their exam scores in one subject are below average.
The removal of the minimum admission score also intensifies the competition among universities. If a university wants to maintain its brand and sets a high admission score, it may face difficulties in student recruitment when comparable universities lower their admission scores.
According to Mr. Tran Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Higher Education Department (Ministry of Education and Training), allowing universities to set their own admission thresholds does not rule out the possibility that some schools will set very low cutoff scores. However, lowering cutoff scores also means lowering prestige, leading to doubts from society and candidates about the quality of education. He warned universities not to pursue enrollment at all costs.
The employment rate of graduates will determine the reputation of a university.
According to recently released data from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the unemployment rate among trained workers is gradually decreasing. While in the third quarter of 2017, there were over 237,000 unemployed workers with a university degree or higher nationwide, by the fourth quarter of 2017, this number had decreased to 215,300.
With universities now able to determine their own admission thresholds, the number of unemployed graduates may increase again, as opportunities to attend university become more readily available.
According to Associate Professor Tran Van Top, Vice Rector of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, the reality of the recent admissions season has shown that many universities lowered their admission scores but still failed to recruit enough students. The reason is that students today no longer choose careers based on emotion, and no longer have the mentality of getting into university at all costs.
Therefore, to remain competitive, universities are forced to improve the quality of their training and tighten graduation requirements to ensure that graduates possess the necessary skills to meet the demands of employers. The employment rate of graduates will determine the brand and survival of a university.