VietNamNet Bridge – Numerous schools have been opened, more and more training
courses have been provided, while there has been no reliable forecast about the
labor force demand. The heavy criticism has been cast on the Ministry of
Education and Training (MOET) for the high unemployment rate of new graduates.
According to Nguyen Thi Bich Hat, a former student of the Dong Thap University,
there were 53 students in her class, who came from the provinces of An Giang,
Kien Giang, Long An and Ben Tre. Only 7 students from Long An could find the
jobs that fit their training majors. The others have been living on the support
from families, or have left for HCM City, where they are working as freelancers,
or blue collar workers.
Too many university students, what’s it for?
According to the Dong Thap provincial education and training department, 1,740
students finishing pedagogical schools had not found jobs by the end of 2012.
The actual number of unemployed graduates was much higher, because the graduates
from the universities in other provinces were not counted on.
Especially, schools said they did not need the teachers in history, agriculture
and industry techniques. However, hundreds of teachers in these subjects are
still produced every year.
By February 20, 2013, Thanh Hoa province had found 24,956 unemployed bachelors.
Most of them finished pedagogical schools (3,762), the others from the “hot
training majors” such as information technology, economics and business
administration.
While it’s still unclear where the 25,000 new graduates would go to, another
44,000 workers would join the labor market in June 2013, when they graduate
universities.
Le Quang Tich, Deputy Director of the Thanh Hoa provincial Department of Labor,
War Invalids and Social Affairs, has blamed the problem on the “oversupply of
bachelors”. He said universities still enroll students in big quantities for
training, though they know it’s very difficult to find jobs in the context of
the economic recession.
The number of unemployed university graduates who are considered “intellectuals”
and don’t accept to work as blue collar workers in industrial zones, seems to be
higher than high school workers who are willing to take simple and unskilled
jobs.
The Da Nang City Department of Labors, War Invalids and Social Affairs, has
confirmed that the city is lacking unskillful workers, but it has bachelors in
excess.
In general, at the job sessions, the demand for unskillful workers accounts for
nearly 70 percent, while the demand for university graduates is low at 5-10
percent.
Meanwhile, Da Nang City alone has 8 universities which produce tens of thousands
of bachelors each year.
The oversupply of university graduates has forced many of them to take
unskillful jobs. Le Duy Luong, the Human Resource Director of a Japanese
electronics company in the Hoa Cam Industrial Zone, said hundreds of blue collar
workers at the company have university degrees.
Minister of Education and Training — Pham Vu Luan claimed the responsibility
for the low training quality.
“The Ministry of Education has a responsibility for the low university training
quality which provides the graduates who still cannot meet the requirements of
the employers, especially in the English and informatics knowledge,” Luan said.
He went on to say that the training scale and structure at universities and
junior colleges do not match the demand in the labor market. The schools just
train students in the majors they have advantages, while cannot train the majors
necessary for the society.
NLD