Universities being held back by old problems – Ministry

A ministerial assessment has found that many Vietnamese universities and institutes are unable to guarantee an adequate education despite rising enrolment of new students at the country’s 235 universities, of which 170 are public and 65 private institutions, writes Thanh Thuy for Asia News.

The teaching staff, especially faculty members, tend to be underqualified and are unable to meet student needs, according to an assessment by Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training. In 2017, with a total of 184 undergraduate degrees, Vietnam trained 105,801 students who obtained specialist bachelor degrees and 15,112 who earned a PhD. In the same academic year, Vietnamese universities had 72,792 lecturers, including 16,514 with a PhD and 43,050 with a masters degree.

But, according to experts, Vietnam’s educational system is held back by old problems: universities are unconnected to the job markets, and teaching tends to focus only on theory, keeping students away from the real world. The net effect is that many new graduates cannot find jobs, with around 200,000 young graduates with a bachelor degree unemployed.
Full report on the Asia News site