Applying the post-secondary education streaming ratio is no longer appropriate.

The education development strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2045, no longer sets the post-secondary vocational training rate at around 30% as in the previous period. Reality shows that applying the post-secondary streaming rate is inappropriate and has many consequences.

ENTERING GRADE 10 IS STRESSFUL BECAUSE OF THE STREAMING RATE

The Education Development Strategy for the 2011-2020 period sets a target that by 2020, vocational training institutions will be able to accept 30% of junior high school graduates. Meanwhile, according to the Education Development Strategy to 2030 (the strategy) recently approved by the Prime Minister, the target of achieving the rate of students from junior high school to high school and other levels reaching 95% does not mention the rate of vocational training after junior high school.

The 10th grade entrance exam puts a lot of pressure on society, partly due to the ratio of streams after junior high school.

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son shared about the process of building the strategy over the past 2 years, in which the Ministry of Education and Training has repeatedly consulted with ministries and sectors on each indicator of the strategy. Regarding the rate of streaming after secondary school, Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that there is currently no convincing basis for this rate; the basis for streaming and career guidance is based on the voluntary needs of students, while the state must ensure 100% of school places. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the rate of streaming and career guidance for localities to ensure sufficient investment in schools for 100% of students.

For many years, Vinh Phuc has been a locality that has implemented a "strict" policy on post-secondary education, even causing resentment and complaints among the people when it "contracted" that nearly 40% of secondary school graduates must go to vocational school.

In December 2024, in Hanoi, the National Council for Education and Human Resources Development coordinated with the Ministry of Education and Training to organize a meeting on Career Education and Orientation for Students in Secondary Education Institutions.

Looking back at the results of the implementation of the Career Guidance and Student Streaming Project for the period 2018 - 2025 according to Decision 522 of 2018 of the Prime Minister, the report of the Ministry of Education and Training shows that the average rate of student streaming after secondary school nationwide is 17.8%. Many provinces/cities such as Hanoi and Hai Phong only achieved less than 12%. Vinh Phuc has achieved over 30% in recent years, and is in the top 6 provinces nationwide with high achievements in streaming over 30%.

Mr. Nguyen Phu Son, Director of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh Phuc, said that the province has issued a plan to have the rate of student streaming after junior high school reach 50% by 2025. In fact, the rate of junior high school graduates continuing to high school in the province has gradually decreased, from about 70% in 2019 to about 63% in 2024. This has created great pressure on society in the entrance exam for grade 10 high school.

Faced with that problem, the provincial leaders recently directed the Department of Education and Training to advise and propose amendments to some contents related to the plan and decision on the rate of student classification after graduating from junior high school, in the direction of increasing opportunities and enrollment quotas for grade 10 public high schools in the area.

Speaking at the National Assembly, Mr. Nguyen Van Manh, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Vinh Phuc Province, analyzed: "Practice shows that the division of 40% of junior high school students into vocational training and 60% into public high school creates great pressure for the annual entrance exams to grade 10. Every year, about 15% of junior high school graduates drop out of school, go directly to work and do not have stable jobs. The quality of vocational training for junior high school graduates is still low and the employment rate is not high. The target of dividing 45% of high school graduates into vocational training also does not meet the set target because most students want to go to university and rarely go to vocational training.

Many opinions suggest that it is necessary to reduce the rate of secondary school students going to vocational training instead of the current target of 30-40%.

STUDENTS HAVE THE RIGHT TO ACCESS EDUCATION ACCORDING TO THEIR NEEDS

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Manh, to solve this situation, it is necessary to reduce the rate of secondary school students going to vocational training instead of the current target of 30-40%. This is to create conditions for students to have equal rights to education and study in schools to develop comprehensively in thinking and physical health, and reduce social evils caused by students due to not being fully educated in a pedagogical environment.

Dr. Hoang Ngoc Vinh, former Director of the Department of Vocational Education (Ministry of Education and Training), said that the key to meeting people's needs is that most families want their children to have a high school diploma and if they have vocational skills, that would be better, except for some families who do not have the conditions to send their children to school or who do not have the ability to study at high school educational institutions. When there is no distinction between high school and vocational secondary school, both are called high school graduation as is the reality in the world, then the conditions for streaming will be easier due to the formation of vocational high schools and technical high schools (according to Resolution No. 686 of the National Assembly Standing Committee requiring the formation of technical high schools).

The National Assembly has recognized the problem and the key point is to diversify the model of secondary schools after grade 9, the name of the diploma only refers to one level of secondary education. Experience shows that in Korea and Taiwan in the 1970s and 1980s, the secondary education workforce played a key role. After graduating from secondary school, students can take post-secondary vocational training courses or go to college, there is no longer the so-called recruitment of secondary school students from high school graduates as in the past two decades.

Mr. Vinh also said that it is necessary to review the target of streaming. In the 4.0 industry, the foundation of general education is very important. The education development strategy with a vision to 2045 needs to address the efficiency, effectiveness, and efficiency in human resource training. If the streaming continues to be rigid as it has been for a long time, the locality will not invest in building high schools, the pressure and stress in the 10th grade entrance exam will be very high. The situation of extra teaching and learning, which is widespread and negative from primary to secondary schools, will therefore not be resolved.

Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Educational Psychology, said that early career orientation and guidance for students is necessary, but setting a target of 30% or 40% is forced. "We must respect the interests, abilities, and circumstances of each student, and should not advise and guide them in an imposing manner. Depending on the conditions, some families realize that their children need to learn a trade after finishing junior high school to start working right away, but some families express their desire for their children to continue studying so that they can have more options for their future careers," Mr. Lam shared.

Many experts also pointed out that the management of general education and vocational training programs has long been inconsistent and overlapping between the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. In the near future, when vocational training management is transferred to the Ministry of Education and Training, it is hoped that the current forced division and division in management will be avoided.

In 2024, the Ministry of Education and Training and provinces and cities agreed to report to the Prime Minister to amend Decision 522 in the direction of not assigning common streaming targets to provinces and cities, but depending on the human resource development requirements of each locality to stream appropriately.

The Prime Minister has just issued Decision No. 1705/QD-TTg dated December 31, 2024 approving the Education Development Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2045. It includes the general goal: "By 2030, Vietnam's education will reach the advanced level of the Asian region and by 2045, it will reach the advanced level of the world".

The strategy sets out specific targets for each level of education by 2030. In preschools, the rate of school attendance will reach 38% of nursery-age children and 97% of kindergarten-age children. Strive for 99.5% of preschool children to attend school 2 sessions/day; the number of children attending private preschools will reach 35%.

Strive for 100% of solid classrooms; over 65% of kindergartens to meet national standards.

In general education, the rate of attending primary school at the right age reached 99.5%, secondary school reached 97%; the rate of completing primary school reached 99.7%, secondary school reached 99% and completing high school reached 95%; the rate of transferring from primary school to secondary school reached 99.5%, from secondary school to high school and other levels reached 95%; 100% of primary school students study 2 sessions/day.

Regarding university education, the strategy states: the number of university students per 10,000 people must reach at least 260, the proportion of university students in the age group of 18-22 must reach at least 33%, the proportion of international students studying university education programs in Vietnam must reach 1.5%; the proportion of lecturers with doctoral degrees must reach at least 40%.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ap-ty-le-phan-luong-sau-thcs-khong-con-phu-hop-185250105225406724.htm