Faced with the reality that more and more students refuse to register for grade 10 and instead go to vocational schools, the 9+ program model was born and developed with a significant increase in the number of students. This is a way to shorten the career path, helping students to have an income and stabilize their lives sooner than studying as before. However, many parents still want their children to have a high school diploma after graduating from vocational school.

"9+ Program"

This is the story raised at the 2020 Conference on Admissions, Training and Employment on June 23, organized by the General Department of Vocational Education in Ho Chi Minh City. The contribution of the representative of the Southern colleges and intermediate schools discussed and proposed solutions to this problem.

Wanting your child to have a high school diploma to enter university - Not just a parent's problem

“Our school has difficulty enrolling students for the 9+ program because according to a survey of students who failed the 10th grade exam, 80% of students registered for continuing education centers, only 20% wanted to study a trade. The majority of parents want their children to study continuing education to get a high school diploma and have the opportunity to go to university. The school has a partnership with the Continuing Education Center to provide cultural training for students studying a trade, out of a total of 150 students preparing for the graduation exam this year, 120 have received admission notices, so where is the source to enroll students for the 9+ program?” said Mr. Nguyen Hoang Phong, Head of Training Department of Phu Yen Vocational College.

Not only Phu Yen College but also colleges and intermediate schools nationwide are facing similar situations. Secondary school students face psychological barriers, so enrollment is currently extremely difficult.

Parents all want their children to have a high school diploma

The current solution is to actively coordinate with the Department of Education and Training to organize conferences on streamlining, increasing the rate of secondary school students studying vocational training. But it is easier said than done, because the psychology of parents and students wanting to change requires a long time. In addition, to improve efficiency, there must be a certain roadmap and strict implementation from the beginning.
In big cities like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, recruitment sources will be more abundant, even among secondary school graduates. In the Central provinces, the number of students who fail the 10th grade exam and go to vocational training accounts for 15%, few students choose to study vocational training. If parents want their children to go to vocational schools, they will also wonder whether studying culture in vocational schools will be granted a high school diploma, if there is no diploma, parents will not register. Vocational schools mainly only provide vocational training for students and are not responsible for granting high school diplomas, so vocational schools must cooperate with vocational training centers to meet the demand.
Many students only want to study vocational training, not culture, but parents want their children to have a high school diploma. Thus, parents and children do not have a consensus on choosing a school and future orientation is still unclear.

Graduating from vocational school will be confirmed to have completed the general education program
Parents' awareness is also changing, combined with attractive policies and ensuring safe output. Therefore, vocational schools are attracting many people to enroll. Mr. Than Duc Huong emphasized: Going to university does not necessarily mean a high income like a skilled person. University graduates sometimes only earn 5-7 million VND per month, which is too low compared to the minimum level in the city. Meanwhile, a good chef, without going to university, only needs to graduate from intermediate or college to have an income of 15 million VND per month. That is the reason why students and parents are not as interested in universities as they are today.

Therefore, according to Mr. Huong, whether students graduate from junior high school or high school and go to vocational school or not is not important, the important thing is that vocational schools provide good training so that they can get a job right after graduation with an income that is not inferior to that of university or even higher.

Vocational training can also lead to a good job with a high income

Regarding the issue of studying high school culture when registering for the 9+ program, Mr. Vu Xuan Hung presented the issue of studying intermediate level. Studying intermediate level, especially technical fields, students do not need to study much high school culture because businesses only need them to have skills to work. However, if students want to study at a higher level, they must register for 4 subjects for intermediate level to college and 7 subjects if they want to take the high school graduation exam. This is still being discussed and opinions are given before a decision is made. After passing important ministries and branches, this circular is issued, then we have the right to issue a certificate of completion of high school program to students of the 9+ program.

As mentioned above, the 9+ Program is considered an innovation in the Vietnamese education system. With the above information, vocational training still has the opportunity to take the university entrance exam, which will open up a new direction in the future for parents and students. This is considered the foundation of career education. The success of this draft will reduce the annual unemployment rate, minimize the situation of working in the wrong field and shorten the career establishment time of the young generation in the future. Moving towards early career establishment and orientation, quickly stabilizing jobs and generating income.