The number of vocational school students choosing to study general education is surprising.

(NLĐO) - Approximately 98% of students at vocational schools choose to study both general education and vocational training concurrently.

As of September 2025, the whole country has 1,163 vocational education and training (VET) institutions. Of these, 518 are public VET institutions and 645 are private VET institutions.

Approximately 2% are vocational students who do not attend high school.

In 2024, vocational education and training (VET) enrolled 2,430,000 students. Of these, nearly 200,000 were enrolled in college-level programs (entering from secondary or high school), approximately 230,000 in intermediate-level programs (entering from lower secondary school), and about 2 million in basic and other vocational training programs.

Among students choosing vocational training, approximately 76% chose to study the continuing education program at the high school level (with the aspiration to take the high school diploma exam), about 22% chose to study the high school-level cultural knowledge (to qualify for further studies at the college level); and about 2% chose to only study vocational skills and not high school-level cultural knowledge.

Approximately 98% of students in vocational schools study both general education and vocational training concurrently.

This shows that the number of students choosing to study general education alongside vocational training remains very high, with only a small number choosing to study purely vocational subjects.

However, after the National Assembly approved the addition of vocational secondary education to the national education system on December 10th, the admission criteria for the intermediate level have been adjusted.

Mr. Dao Trong Do, Head of the Vocational Education and Training Department, Department of Vocational Education and Continuing Education, said that the vocational high school model replaces the intermediate-level model (the entry requirement is students graduating from junior high school as stipulated in the 2014 Vocational Education and Training Law) in order to overcome the shortcomings and limitations of the current education system.

"With the addition of vocational high school programs, the intermediate-level programs will now only enroll students who have graduated from high school, instead of enrolling students who have completed junior high school as before," Mr. Do said.

Opportunities for further education at a higher level.

Regarding the direction for developing vocational high school curricula, the Department of Vocational Education and Continuing Education plans to design them according to two options:

Option 1: Divided into 2 phases. Phase 1 (first 2 years): Completing 70-80% of the high school curriculum combined with experiential activities, career guidance, and foundational knowledge of the profession; Phase 2 (final year): Equipping students with integrated professional knowledge and skills (at level 3 in the 8-level national qualifications framework) and general education knowledge integrated with professional skills according to the chosen profession (the remaining 20% ​​- 30% of the high school curriculum).

Option 2: The program structure and content consist of three parts spread evenly over three academic years (similar to the Technical High School model in South Korea). In this option, high school-level cultural subjects are designed in combinations relevant to various fields/professions, accounting for 40% of the total vocational high school program duration.

In 2025, the whole country is expected to enroll and train approximately 2.2 million people in vocational education and training, achieving 107% of the annual plan.

After completing a vocational high school program, students can choose to continue their education vertically to higher levels such as college or university (within the same field of study) and may be exempted from the amount of knowledge and skills they have already learned. If they choose to continue their education horizontally, they can switch to studying other vocational fields within the same field or switch to a related profession.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/bat-ngo-voi-so-luong-hoc-vien-trung-cap-chon-hoc-van-hoa-196251215163501661.htm