VietNamNet Bridge – Many universities now have to keep enrolling learners to the study branches which are unattractive in the eyes of students. Why?

Phan Cong Nghia, Deputy Headmaster of the Hanoi National Economics University said that his university has to retain some study fields, though very few students register to study these branches.

New study branches of the university, including price appraisal, travel administration and economic information system, are considered the fields very useful in the national economy. However, the university could not enroll any students to these branches because there were no  students. In fact, some students once registered to follow these study branches, but they were very few, and then were then asked to shift to study other branches.

According to Nghia, besides the said new branches, marketing and statistics are also the difficult-to-enroll fields. The problem is that though it is difficult to enroll students, the university still has to maintain the branches, because it finds that the national economy needs the manpower in these fields.  

The solution of the National Economics University to this problem is to grant scholarships to students of these fields. Those studentswho register to study other branches but do not get high enough scores in the entrance exams to be eligible to follow the registered branches, can shift to follow other study fields.

The University of Natural Sciences under the Hanoi National University also has to maintain a lot of less attractive study branches, namely hydrometeorology, sea technologies, earth sciences, pedology and geotechnics.

Bui Duy Cam, Deputy Headmaster of the University of Natural Sciences said that students do not have enough information about the study branches, which is the fault of the university. For example, pegology is the science about soil, which is very useful in the national economy and very interesting. However, as students do not understand about the study branch, and the name of the subject proves to be not attractive, few students want to follow the study branch.

At a recent conference on hydrometeorology and oceanography organized by the University of Natural Sciences, experts warned that Vietnam will seriously lack manpower in this field.

Cam said that students of this field will get jobs right after the graduation. However, he admitted that though this is a very important study branch, the university cannot enroll good students for the branch.

The Hanoi University of Technology also complains that it cannot enroll students in the textile-garment branch. The fields relating to agriculture and forestry also do not attract students.

If the fields of applied sciences have become ‘hot’ in recent years, basic sciences do not attract students any more.

(Source: Tuoi tre)