No career points added for high school graduation: 'Need to be done soon, many countries have abandoned it for a long time'

Many experts believe that not adding bonus points for vocational certificates to high school graduation from 2025 is appropriate because the 2018 General Education Program no longer regulates vocational training activities like the old program.

The Ministry of Education and Training is seeking comments on a draft Circular promulgating the Regulations on High School Graduation Exams in 2025. One of the notable new points of the draft is that there is no longer a regulation on adding vocational training points in the high school graduation exam.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Education and Training has removed the regulation that highschool students and continuing education students with conduct classification who have a vocational certificate issued during high school will receive bonus points based on their classification (Excellent 2 points; Fair 1.5 points; Average 1 point).

Some people are concerned that removing extra points for vocational students will go against the promotion of vocational education and training. However, the majority agree because this is in line with the orientation of the 2018 General Education Program (GEP) when students no longer study vocational training to obtain primary vocational certificates as in the previous general education program.

English for graduation exam.jpg — Illustration photo.

Talking to VietNamNet , Dr. Hoang Ngoc Vinh (former Director of the Department of Vocational Education, Ministry of Education and Training) said that, in reality, the purpose of vocational training for high school students is not to stream and guide them to careers early, but the main purpose is to get extra points when considering high school graduation.

Thus, the nature of vocational training for students is not as effective as expected. Therefore, Mr. Vinh completely agrees with the direction of eliminating the extra points in the high school graduation exam.

“Adding vocational points in the high school graduation exam is very illogical. Organizing general vocational training does not bring much value when the program is like ‘riding a horse to see flowers’, there is no equipment, teachers only teach superficially, and do not even have vocational teaching skills. It can be said that the value of vocational skills to be included in education is non-existent, and at the same time it is difficult to meet the requirements of the labor market. Organizing students to go to vocational training, but then they go to university, almost brings no meaning,” said Mr. Vinh.

According to Mr. Vinh, if we want to organize or add points, we need to have a program according to vocational skills standards; otherwise, it is just a waste of time and money. “It needs to be done soon, other countries have long abandoned this type of career guidance model. We should replace this with something more meaningful, which is career counseling. If we want, high schools can combine inviting vocational school lecturers to teach students proper skills according to vocational skills standards, with clear assessment and testing,” Mr. Vinh said.

In difficult areas, Mr. Nguyen Nam Son (Vice Principal of Muong Lat High School, Muong Lat District, Thanh Hoa Province) said that removing vocational points in the 2025 high school graduation exam is reasonable because the 2018 General Education Program no longer has 105 general vocational periods like the previous program.

“Without vocational training in the program, there will be no vocational certificate exams, so removing extra points in the high school graduation exam is understandable,” said Mr. Son.

According to Mr. Son, some contents of the general vocational program are incorporated and integrated into the subjects of Experiential Activities - Career Guidance and Local Education.

Mr. Son said that previously, with the 2006 General Program, students of Muong Lat High School often chose to register to study one of the following occupations: Gardening; Civil Electricity; Office Informatics at school.

At the end of the course, most students register to take the exam to get a certificate and the pass rate is usually 100%.

According to Mr. Son, in 2023, Muong Lat High School had 1 student fail to graduate. In the recent 2024 high school graduation exam, Muong Lat High School achieved a 100% high school graduation rate and this generation (the last students studying under the 2006 general education program) still used the bonus points of general vocational certificates to consider graduation.

For difficult mountainous areas with low high school graduation rates, Mr. Son said that sometimes 1.5-2 vocational points are very important. According to him, the school is a bit worried that the graduation rate may be lower.

However, Mr. Son said that this concern will motivate teachers and students to try harder in teaching, instead of relying on 1-2 extra vocational points to graduate. "We analyze for students and even teachers to understand that they need to practice adapting, at least thinking of not waiting or relying on others," Mr. Son said.

'If 100% of high school graduates pass, is it necessary to organize an exam?'

This viewpoint was presented at the Scientific Workshop on Innovation in Assessment in the Implementation of the 2018 General Education Program organized by the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences on October 30.