Female student with nearly 9 points/subject in block C refuses university to study beauty

(Dan Tri) - Having scored 25.5 points in block C in the 2023 high school graduation exam, Do Thi Lan Huong (Thanh Liem, Ha Nam ) decided not to apply to university but to go to vocational school.

Don't go to college because it's expensive and time consuming.

Do Thi Lan Huong has just enrolled in the Hanoi College of High Technology, majoring in beauty care. This was her choice since grade 12, after attending a career counseling session at A Thanh Liem High School (Ha Nam).

Huong comes from a poor family. College education is beyond her family’s ability to pay. Therefore, she did not apply to any university despite receiving high exam results.

Do Thi Lan Huong in her 12th grade yearbook photos (Photo: NVCC).

"When I took the exam, I decided to just get a diploma, I didn't think I would get such good results. After my teachers and parents knew my score, they also advised me to apply to university, but I didn't change my choice," Huong said.

Huong has been researching university tuition fees since grade 11. The important thing is that she could not find a major she liked. When she was introduced to the beauty care profession, Huong realized that this job was very suitable for her as well as her family's economic conditions. Huong is skillful and likes to explore beauty for herself and her friends.

Tuition for beauty care is about 7-8 million/semester. Huong lives in the dormitory, total cost of food and living is estimated at 2 million/month.

After 3 years, with a college degree in beauty care, Huong plans to find a job in beauty salons in Hanoi. When she has accumulated enough capital, Huong dreams of opening her own beauty salon.

"In case it is difficult to find a job in Hanoi, I can still start my own business with a small skin care spa or bridal makeup shop in my hometown without much money. Choosing this path, I do not have to worry about the future such as what to do or where to apply for a job," Huong shared.

Like Do Thi Lan Huong, Nguyen Hai Nam (Lam Thao, Phu Tho) is among the 292,000 candidates who dropped out of the university entrance exam this year. Nam scored 22.05 points in block D and applied to the automotive technology major at Hanoi College of Electromechanics.

Nam's dream is to soon have a vocational degree to qualify to go to Germany to work at large automobile factories.

Nam said that because his academic performance was not excellent, he did not dream of becoming an engineer but only wanted to become a skilled worker in the field of automobile repair and assembly.

Nam's purpose of going to work in Germany is to learn the most advanced techniques of the profession to build a career in Vietnam such as selling spare parts, opening a garage...

"I also want to shorten my study time by learning a trade, graduating early and working to accumulate capital to prepare for the future," Nam said.

In the list of K14 students who have just been admitted to the 2023-2024 school year at Hanoi College of Technology, there are 17 students who scored 24 points or higher. Among them, there is one student who scored 28 points, studied for two years at another university but dropped out to study a vocational course in information technology.

At Hanoi College of Electromechanics, many new students have high school graduation exam scores ranging from 18 to 25. Mr. Dong Van Ngoc - Principal of the school - said that currently the list of students admitted to the school is nearly 500 from 30 provinces and cities.

More than half of them achieved scores high enough to apply to universities in Hanoi.

Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, Bac Giang and Bac Ninh are the five provinces with the largest number of students, accounting for 25.8% of the total number of new students. Thai Binh alone has 42 students, 1.5 times more than the second-ranked province, Thanh Hoa (27 students).

Students of Hanoi College of Electromechanics participate in a recruitment day with businesses (Photo: Hanoi College of Electromechanics).

Mr. Dong Van Ngoc said that there are two important reasons why many high school graduates choose vocational training instead of university.

One is that the cost of vocational training is lower than that of university. Some professions are also supported by the state in terms of tuition fees such as automotive technology, industrial electricity, welding engineering, metal mechanics, etc.

The tuition fee after support for these majors is only about 500 thousand VND/month, no other additional fees. The total tuition fee for one school year is about 5 million VND.

In addition, students who are signed contracts with businesses from the second year also receive additional salary allowances and monthly food allowances. For example, the highest amount that a business pays for a robot welding intern at Hanoi College of Electromechanics is up to 9 million VND/month.

Second is the job opportunities for students of vocational schools. With the type of training ordered from domestic or foreign enterprises, 100% of students are recruited within 6 months after graduation. With professions such as beauty care, cooking, many students choose the path of entrepreneurship instead of working for hire.

According to data from the General Statistics Office, in the three years 2020-2022, the unemployment rate among working-age people by technical expertise level has fluctuated sharply, with a sharp decrease in the group of college-educated workers.

Specifically, in 2020, the unemployment rate of this group was 6.07%. By 2021, the unemployment rate decreased to 4.43%, and further decreased to 3.41% in 2022.

The group of workers with intermediate qualifications maintained the lowest unemployment rate at 2.31% in 2022. The group of workers with university qualifications maintained a high level of 3.16% in 2022.

By occupation, statistics show that workers employed in simple occupations account for the majority with more than 12 million workers.

Next are personal service - security - sales (9.7 million workers), machine and equipment assembly workers (7.5 million workers), craftsmen and similar workers (7.3 million workers)...

Mr. Dong Van Ngoc affirmed that with the current trend of vocational training combining enrollment and recruitment, a vocational school graduate can achieve a starting income equivalent to that of a university graduate.

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