Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan was quizzed by National Assembly deputies on June 11, focusing on tertiary and vocational training quality, graduates’ high unemployment rate, and the implementation of educational and textbook renovation.
Regarding information on over 70,000 tertiary graduates who cannot find jobs relating to their profession, the minister said that the country’s tertiary education development model has too long focused on quantity over quality.
Training programmes depend on the capacity of universities but must also be linked to the demands of society, he added.
Luan took responsibility for the weaknesses, adding that the ministry has reviewed university performance with the aim of building a network of tertiary establishments in line with the country’s human resources development plan and socio-economic development strategy.
The ministry also suspended receiving applications for expanding or establishing new university and colleges establishments until 2015. It has also halted the training in areas with oversupply in the labour market, such as financing, banking and accounting in the two major cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
According to Minister Luan, Vietnam has about 400,000 university and college graduates each year.
At the session, the minister also replied to queries relating to policies for students, graduates, pre-schools and ethnic boarding schools.
NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung commented that Luan had been refreshingly frank, providing direct answers to questions and solutions to problems.
