Why are many vocational schools in Nghe An having difficulty recruiting students?

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Established in 2008 with the mission of training technical workers for the northern districts and towns of the province, Bac Nghe An Economic - Technical College trains in the following majors: Industrial Electricity, Civil Electricity, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineering, Automotive Technology, Welding, and Fashion Sewing.

Industrial electricity vocational class at Bac Nghe An Economic - Technical College. Photo: Minh Quan

Mr. Nguyen Van Tai - Principal of Bac Nghe An Economic and Technical College said: "All students after graduation are introduced to jobs and introduced to work abroad by the school. Currently, the school has coordinated with companies to introduce jobs and supply human resources such as Lilama18, Lilama7, Hoang Thi Loan Textile Joint Stock Company... However, in the past 5-6 years, almost every year the school has struggled to recruit students.

As in the 2022-2023 school year, the school only recruited 342/400 assigned targets. In recent school years, Quynh Luu district had approximately 800 students who finished grade 9 but could not enter public high schools, but many of them chose to study at 2 non-public high schools in the district, or went to work as freelancers instead of choosing to study a trade, although every year right after Tet, the school has stepped up propaganda measures to junior high schools.

In the 2022-2023 school year, Nghe An College of Economics and Crafts was assigned an enrollment target of 450 students. However, up to this point, the school has only recruited more than 390 students.

Students learn sewing at Nghe An College of Economics and Handicrafts. Photo: Minh Quan.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuong - Principal of the school said: "To complete the target, the school's enrollment will continue until the end of December 2022. During this time, the school's leaders and professional groups will work directly with the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, the Department of Education and Training of districts, cities and towns to find enrollment solutions for students who have finished grade 9 but do not go on to high school."

For Nghi Loc Economic and Technical Vocational College, enrollment also faces many difficulties, especially in the vocational secondary level, when up to this point, the school has only recruited more than 100 students out of 190 students according to the quota.

Mr. Luong Anh Tuan - Principal of the school said: "Every year, from March and April, the school has established recruitment teams according to the area, assigning specific quotas to teachers. Most of the teachers have made great efforts and enthusiasm in approaching schools, even going to the homes of students with difficult circumstances to convince them to learn a trade.

However, due to the small number of teachers, and the "movement" of exporting labor or working in the southern provinces in many localities, many students after graduating from high school, or even middle school, have chosen to go to work immediately instead of having to study a trade for at least 1.5 years.

Enhance career orientation

To develop a highly skilled workforce, the State has had preferential policies for students studying at vocational schools such as Decree 86/2015/ND-CP dated October 2, 2015 of the Government exempting tuition fees for students studying at vocational and higher education institutions who are ethnic minorities from poor and near-poor households, junior high school graduates who continue to study at intermediate level; vocational training policies for rural workers...

Vocational schools themselves also strive to improve the effectiveness of vocational training such as linking with businesses in teaching, internships, finding job opportunities, and exporting labor for students after training...

Vocational school teachers introduce the training profession atNghe An province vocational education admissions consultation festival 2022.Photo: Thanh Nga

However, difficulties in recruitment are still the common situation of the facilities.vocational educationin the province in recent years. Currently, the province has 55 vocational training institutions, including: 9 colleges, 13 secondary schools, 22 vocational training centers, and 11 other institutions participating in vocational training. According to the vocational training plan, in 2022, the above institutions will enroll and train 66,300 people.

However, according to the latest report of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, vocational schools have only enrolled and trained 45,519 people, reaching 68.6% of the plan, including the following levels: college 1,070 people; intermediate 4,315 people; elementary and training under 3 months 40,134 people. Of which, 7,025/12,500 workers are supported to study vocationally from the budget, reaching 56% according to Plan 351/KH-UBND of the province.

Through practical research, in addition to schools with a long tradition and having affirmed their brands over many years such as: Vietnam - Korea Industrial Technical College, Vietnam - Germany Nghe An College, Vocational College No. 4 of the Ministry of National Defense, Nghe An Economic - Technical College No. 1... are recruiting enough according to the quota, most schools are not recruiting enough according to the quota, such as Tay Nam Economic - Technical College reaching 91%, Mien Tay Economic - Technical College (89%), Bac Nghe An Economic - Technical College (87%), Boarding Ethnic Secondary School (81%), Vocational Secondary Schools in Yen Thanh and Do Luong districts (81% - 85%)...

Many non-public high schools have increased their enrollment, causing many students who fail to pass the entrance exam to public schools to continue their 3 years of high school in non-public schools instead of choosing to study at vocational schools, even though vocational school students can study both vocational and general education to complete their high school program. In addition, study abroad and labor export activities have also recovered and developed strongly after the Covid-19 pandemic, further narrowing the enrollment opportunities of vocational schools.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuong - Principal of Nghe An College of Economics and Handicrafts.

Through discussion, representatives of vocational education institutions in the province said: The reason for the difficulty in recruiting students of vocational education institutions, especially for colleges and intermediate schools, is mainly because going to university is no longer as difficult as before, while the psychology of families and students both prefer their children to go to university than to vocational school.

As in Nghi Loc district, even high schools and middle schools still consider the number of students passing the university entrance exam or being admitted to public high schools as an achievement. Therefore, schools do not focus on propaganda and guiding students to vocational schools, although vocational training receives many preferential policies, and finding a job after graduation is also more favorable.

Mr. Luong Anh Tuan - Principal of Nghi Loc District Vocational College of Economics and Technology.

In addition, according to the new regulations, the type of training is no longer recorded on the diploma, meaning that previously full-time, specialized or part-time study were all recorded on the diploma, but now it is not recorded, the value of the diploma is the same, leading to much more convenience for learners. In addition, the enrollment quota of universities is expanding, in addition to centralized training, the form of distance learning is "blossoming".

In addition, since 2019, the Ministry of Education and Training has removed the minimum score for university admission, making it even more difficult for vocational schools to recruit students. On the other hand, the regulation that vocational intermediate students who study 4 high school cultural subjects cannot transfer to university also makes students who want to study higher education hesitate to choose vocational training.

Practical hours of students from the Faculty of Automotive Technology - Viet Duc College, Nghe An. Photo: Minh Quan.

Therefore, in order to develop a skilled workforce to meet the increasing demands of businesses and society, investment in attracting students to vocational training institutions and vocational training activities needs to be further strengthened, including career orientation for students while they are still studying in high schools. In addition, media agencies should increase propaganda to change the thinking and psychology of students and their families in the issue of studying at vocational training institutions today...

Vocational training institutions themselves also need to promote communication and promote the advantages of vocational training as well as the training strengths of the unit in many forms, focusing on social networking platforms.

In addition, facilities also need to grasp the trends and labor recruitment needs of industrial parks and enterprises in the province to adjust the structure of industry codes or open new appropriate industry codes to improve training efficiency as well as solve employment after training.

Mr. Cao Anh Tuan - Vice Principal of Viet Duc College Nghe An, one of the vocational training institutions that has done well in enrollment in recent years.