By 2024, nearly 60% of candidates will choose the social science exam, while the natural science exam will be just over 40%. Remember in the 2000s, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Hanoi National University) had to recruit students from group A (Math, Physics, Chemistry) because few candidates took group C (Literature, History, Geography), but just over ten years later, the wind changed direction. Technical, technological, and economic schools had to incorporate social science subjects into the admissions group because the number of candidates taking the natural science exam gradually decreased; more than 200 new groups were developed from the 4 traditional groups (A, B, C, D) to serve the admissions needs of the schools, one of the underlying reasons being that candidates were gradually turning their backs on natural science subjects.
This comes from the fact that the social science exam in the national high school exam or the high school graduation exam is easier to get a higher score than the natural science exam. But more importantly, because of the enrollment goal, the university can no longer maintain its original goal and orientation; the leniency in enrollment, indulging the candidates, leads to strange combinations, combinations to recruit students at all costs.
The story of choosing subjects is a mirror reflecting the fate of the basic science group. It is as precarious as the natural science subjects themselves. Before the admission season, headlines such as: Candidates are indifferent to basic science; Difficulty in recruiting basic science majors... appeared in the mass media. It is really difficult, each major only recruits 30 or 50 candidates but the number of candidates enrolling is only 5-6 students even though the entrance exam scores are not high and the tuition fee is the lowest among the training majors.
The Ministry of Education and Training has set a target of 35% of students studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) to meet the demand for human resources in high-tech industries when Vietnam joins the global semiconductor and microchip market. The Ministry of Education and Training is optimistic about this number.
For postgraduate training, STEM majors are much more difficult to recruit than undergraduate training. In recent years, master's and doctoral enrollment has continuously decreased, reaching only 30-50% of the target. This decrease will be paid for in the near future, when there is no human resource to meet the requirements of development. Prof. Dr. Chu Duc Trinh (University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi) affirmed that the semiconductor industry is very selective of its employees. To do so, one must be good at natural sciences such as Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Therefore, when the Ministry of Education and Training built the training program standards for this industry, he proposed that candidates must achieve 8 points/subject. While proposing policies, universities still have to mobilize themselves to attract candidates to basic sciences.
Since 2023, Hanoi National University has exempted tuition fees and provided living expenses for students studying 18 basic science majors at its affiliated units. In 2025, the University of Technology has exempted tuition fees and provided monthly living expenses for students (masters) and postgraduates (doctorates). The solutions to support learners of training units are for no other purpose than to restore the position of basic science majors. Because this is the backbone of the economy, sought after by businesses since they were in school but are "thirsty" for learners.
Source: https://tienphong.vn/lay-lai-vi-the-post1730481.tpo
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