Perfecting policy mechanisms to attract talented people into STEM fields

The increasing trend of students choosing STEM-related majors (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) has been a very encouraging sign in the training of high-quality human resources in general, and STEM in particular. However, in order to meet the demand for high-quality human resources to serve the current scientific and technological revolution, innovation and national digital transformation, many opinions say that it is necessary to soon complete appropriate policies on scholarships and preferential credits to attract

Increase the proportion of students and postgraduates studying STEM

According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), in 2024, the rate of students enrolling in STEM-related majors at the university level has increased significantly. Of the more than 600,000 students enrolled, there were more than 200,000 students in STEM majors; an increase of 10% compared to the previous year.

If calculating the average enrollment scale over the past 4 years, STEM-related majors have increased by an average of 10%/year, higher than the average increase in enrollment scale of the whole country of about 5.6%/year. The number of students studying STEM majors is currently at about 55 students/10,000 people, this level accounts for about 30% of the total training scale. The whole system has 218 training institutions, of which 158 are public and 60 are private, participating in STEM training.

In particular, 2025 is the first year that students graduate from the 2018 GeneralEducation Program - a program that is encouraging students to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics, taking advantage of the strengths of Vietnamese students, especially in Mathematics. At the postgraduate level, in 2024, the number of STEM students will continue to increase sharply, of which, master's degrees will increase by 34%, reaching nearly 20,000 students; doctoral degrees will increase by 33% with nearly 4,000 graduate students, an increase of about 600 compared to 2023. These are very positive signals showing the prospect of strong development in both the scale and quality of STEM human resources in the coming time. This shows that the policies of the Party and the State are creating certain positive effects on learners.

STEM is considered one of the pillars of the digital economy . Illustration photo

However, in the overall picture, compared to developed countries and countries with modern science and technology, this figure in Vietnam is still modest. Specifically, for Singapore, this rate is about 46% of students studying in STEM majors, Korea about 35%, Finland about 36% and Germany about 40%. Meanwhile, STEM majors play a very important and decisive role in the development of society and the country in the era of technology 4.0, contributing to creating high-quality human resources in engineering and technology to meet the requirements of national development as stated in Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation. Through STEM majors, learners have the opportunity to apply interdisciplinary knowledge and synthetic skills into practice to solve practical and modern technical problems.

Dr. Le Truong Tung, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FPT University, said that when it comes to national development, many groups of human resources are needed and each group of human resources has its own role. However, at a time when we want to develop quickly and sustainably, attract FDI enterprises as well as domestic enterprises in the fields of science, technology, engineering, especially high technology, the demand for high-quality human resources in the field that we often call STEM needs to be larger in quantity and especially higher in quality. Therefore, it is necessary to have a solution to create a shift, impacting each learner to choose this field.

Build program standards and incentive policies to attract learners

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong said that the Ministry of Education and Training has consulted the Prime Minister to approve Decision No. 1002/QD-TTg dated May 24, 2025, approving the Project on training human resources for high-tech development in the period 2025-2035, with a vision to 2045. This is an important basis for implementing many breakthrough solutions to develop STEM human resources in the coming time. In particular, regarding human resource training in the semiconductor industry, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 1017/QD-TTg approving the Program on human resource development in the semiconductor industry to 2030, with a vision to 2050.

In the 2024-2025 school year, about 19,000 students enrolled in majors related to semiconductors, accounting for about 10% of the total number of students studying STEM. Currently, there are 166 training institutions nationwide in majors related to semiconductors, of which 97 directly train in these majors, including 66 public schools and 31 private schools.

To ensure training quality, the Ministry of Education and Training has established an Advisory Council and a Council for Appraisal of Training Program Standards for undergraduate and master's degrees in semiconductor microchips. On that basis, the Minister of Education and Training issued Decision No. 1314/QD-BGDDT dated May 13, 2025, promulgating the Training Program Standards for undergraduate and master's degrees in semiconductor microchips. Currently, more than 30 training programs have registered to implement Program 1017, of which 8 higher education institutions will apply it from the 2025-2026 school year. At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Training is also urgently developing and will soon issue the Training Program Standards for talents in the STEM field to implement the Project according to Decision 1002/QD-TTg.

Regarding incentives for students studying basic sciences, key engineering, and strategic technologies, Permanent Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong said that, implementing Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation and Resolution No. 71/NQ-CP of the Government amending, supplementing, and updating the Government's Action Program to implement Resolution No. 57, the Ministry of Education and Training is drafting a Decree regulating scholarship policies for students studying basic sciences, key engineering, and strategic technologies to submit to the Government.

The content of the draft Decree stipulates the policy of granting scholarships focusing on students, master's students, and researchers in 3 fields specified in Resolution No. 57, including: Basic science, key engineering, and strategic technology, serving the training of high-quality human resources that are of interest to the Party and the State. The Ministry of Education and Training is also coordinating with the Ministry of Finance to develop and complete the Prime Minister's Decision on credit for students, master's students, and biological researchers in fields related to STEM.

Currently, the draft Decision is in the process of collecting comments to finalize it and submit it to the Prime Minister for signing and promulgation. In addition, the Ministry of Education and Training is also taking the lead in developing regulations on scholarship policies for students in basic sciences, key engineering and strategic technologies; it is expected to be submitted to the Government for consideration and promulgation in 2025.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Xa-hoi/hoan-thien-co-che-chinh-sach-nham-thu-hut-nguoi-gioi-vao-linh-vuc-stem-i774132/