Can vocational high school graduates continue their education at university or pursue a master's degree?

The recently passed amended Vocational Education Law includes, for the first time, the "vocational high school" model. A question of great concern to many parents and students is: can students who attend vocational high school continue their education at university?

Vocational high school: "Specialized vocational high school"

According to Meritorious Teacher and Master Lam Van Quan, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Vocational Education Association, adding the vocational high school model to the Vocational Education Law is strategic, in line with development principles, and highly anticipated. This is not just about adding another type of training, but a major adjustment in the mindset regarding career guidance after lower secondary education.

Ho Chi Minh City has pioneered the "9+" model (vocational secondary schools enrolling students from junior high school). However, vocational high schools have a completely different nature and vision, reflecting the inevitability of this trend.

The core difference lies in the legal status and classification within the national education system. The previous 9+ model was primarily based on sub-legal documents and lacked an official name in the Vocational Education Law. Vocational high schools, on the other hand, are formalized and defined in law, offering stability and long-term sustainability.

Vocational high schools are expected to be a type of general secondary education with in-depth career orientation, on par with regular high schools. This changes the perspective, affirming that choosing vocational high school is a form of streaming based on specific talents and interests, rather than simply a solution for students who do not wish to continue their education in regular high school.

Vocational high schools are formalized and legally defined, giving them stability and longevity.

PHOTO: YEN THI

Master Lam Van Quan emphasized: "Officially including vocational high schools in the law will open up groundbreaking opportunities."

Vocational high schools are not only for those who do not continue their general education, but also provide a specialized environment for students with aptitude and passion for technology or other professional fields. They can be considered "vocational high schools," similar to existing specialized schools, but focusing on developing skills and professional expertise, following the trend of developed countries like South Korea and Germany.

Another notable difference from the current 9+ model lies in the training program structure. While the 9+ model typically concentrates vocational training in the first two years, before the completion of the 12th-grade general education curriculum, vocational high schools can allow for a parallel and harmonious distribution of core general education and vocational training throughout the three years of study. This approach prevents students from having a gap in their general education knowledge while also providing them with sufficient time to acquire vocational skills.

Ending the "complicated" path, opening up opportunities for lifelong learning.

According to Dr. Hoang Ngoc Vinh, former Director of the Department of Vocational Education (Ministry of Education and Training), the greatest significance of vocational high schools is that they open up a parallel and equal learning path. Vocational high schools allow students to study both general education and vocational skills, while still obtaining a high school diploma to continue their studies or enter the labor market early.

According to Master Quan, vocational high school graduates have more valuable qualifications, more specialized skills, a significant advantage in terms of time and early work experience, and still have a solid foundation to continue to college or university, ensuring a lifelong learning path.

Dr. Tran Manh Thanh, Principal of Bach Viet Polytechnic College, believes this policy is entirely in line with global trends. Many developed countries have established vocational and technical high school systems very early on and consider them a pillar of human resource supply.

According to Dr. Thanh, vocational high school programs can be envisioned as comprising two distinct blocks: core general education knowledge and vocational knowledge and skills. Current colleges already possess the capacity to provide vocational training; what needs to be added is the teaching staff and resources to teach the core cultural education component. For many schools, this is not a major obstacle.

The key point of concern for parents and students is the value of the diploma. According to experts, a vocational high school diploma will be equivalent to a regular high school diploma. This means that students are fully entitled to continue their studies at college, university, or even postgraduate level if they meet the specific admission requirements of each training institution.

According to Dr. Tran Manh Thanh, the educational path for students in the past was quite complicated. "Some schools required students to study four cultural subjects, others seven; some schools allowed articulation programs, but others did not recognize them, making it difficult for students to choose and orient their future. With the vocational high school model, the learning path becomes clearer: those who choose vocational high school will receive vocational training while also being awarded a high school diploma, allowing them to start working early or continue their studies at higher levels," Dr. Thanh explained.

Ms. Ngo Thi Quynh Xuan, Principal of Saigon Tourism College, believes that unifying the vocational high school model will help resolve the long-standing "ambiguity" between general education and vocational training, and between different management agencies. When both are within a clear legal framework, coordination between programs will be smoother, creating advantages for both schools and students.

According to Dr. Vinh, international experience also shows that this is not a "roundabout" path. In Taiwan, nearly half of high school students choose vocational or technical high school education. South Korea once considered the vocational and technical high school system as a pillar of human resources during the country's industrialization and modernization. Vietnam also followed this path before 1998, and is now returning to it with a more modern and progressive mindset.

"It's crucial to design this learning path so that it's not seen as 'second-rate,' but rather as a practical, skills-based development path with its own unique value," said Dr. Vinh.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/trung-hoc-nghe-co-duoc-hoc-len-dai-hoc-thac-si-185251216001622778.htm