Teams participating in the final round of the 2023 Vietnam Robot Innovation Competition (Robocon Vietnam) at the Nam Dinh province's Sports Complex (Photo: VNA) STEM is considered ahighly promising field. However, in Vietnam, the proportion of universitystudents in STEM-related fields is relatively low compared to other countriesin the region and Europe, especially in fields such as Science and Mathematics.
According to theMinistry of Education and Training, the number of university students studyingSTEM fields in Vietnam is only about 55 students per ten thousand people. Thepercentage of university students in STEM fields has ranged from 27% to 30% ofall university students in Vietnam in recent years.
In 2021, this ratereached approximately 28.7%. This percentage was much lower than some othercountries in the region and Europe, such as Singapore (46%), Malaysia (5 %),the Republic of Korea (35%), Finland (36%) and Germany (39%).
In particular, thepercentage of university students studying Natural Sciences and Mathematics wasapproximately 1.5%, which was one-third that of Finland, one-fourth of the RoK,and one-fifth of Singapore and Germany.
Furthermore, thepostgraduate STEM education in Vietnam is quite modest compared to developedcountries, and it constitutes a very small proportion of the total scale ofeducation across all fields.
The ministry’s 2021statistics showed that the number of postgraduate students in STEM fields wasonly 2.2 per ten thousand people, which was roughly one-seventh of South Koreaand Israel, less than one-tenth of Singapore, one-fifteenth of the EuropeanUnion average, and one-twentieth of Germany and Finland.
In terms of the totalscale of education at various levels within STEM fields, postgraduate educationin 2021 accounted for only about 3.6%, which was lower than the overall averageof 5.6% across all fields. Meanwhile, in the RoK, postgraduate education inSTEM fields was at 9.4%, Israel at 16.3%, Finland at 27.8%, Germany at 34.4%,and the European Union at 33.7%.
According to theanalysis of a group of experts from Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam needed aroadmap to increase the proportion of students studying STEM fields to around60%. The Ministry of Education and Training should enhance career counsellingand guidance for high school students, and implement appropriate mechanisms andpolicies to attract students to study STEM fields in the future.
Dr Trinh Quang Khai fromthe University of Transportation pointed out that the State's investment inscience and technology in the past several years has not increased, remainingat approximately 3.7% while in other regional countries, the rate ranged from5-10%.
The State's policies inthe field of science and technology have not offered many incentives to promotethe development of science and technology in universities. Therefore, togenuinely address this issue, it was essential to mobilise resources tocollaborate in creating a science and technology market, providing a platformand motivation for the development of Vietnamese scientists.
Innovative trainingprogrammes
To improve the qualityof STEM field training in Vietnam to meet the nation's development needs andthe trend of global integration, many universities are striving to implementsolutions to renew their training programmes and attract students.
The University of Science and Technology, HCM City NationalUniversity, has restructured its training programmes according to internationalSTEM standards. They have increased the duration of practical work,internships, experiments, projects, business-oriented practical experiences,and implementing graduation projects with a practical orientation. They havealso expanded programmes that are entirely taught in English.
Additionally, they have brought in foreign professors to teachdirectly at the university, engaging in faculty and student exchanges, adheringto international training standards, and participating in global rankings.
The university is currently operating 22 programmes that areentirely taught in English, eight high-quality engineering programmes followingthe Vietnam-France framework, and two Japan-oriented training programmes. As ofthis August, all these programmes have been evaluated to meet internationalstandards.
Dr Nguyen Dac Trung from the Hanoi University of Science andTechnology also shared that, to build training programmes addressing thedemands for high-quality human resources, the university has developed theElite Technology Programme (ELITECH). Graduates from these programmes wouldbecome researchers, technical developers, engineers, experts and managers incore engineering and technology fields.
By 2023, the university has implemented 32 ELITECH trainingprogrammes, including 19 programmes taught entirely in English, two programmesfollowing the high-quality engineer standards of France, seven internationalcooperative programmes with universities in the United States, the UnitedKingdom, Australia, Germany and Japan, and four talent-oriented trainingprogrammes. The number of participating students has reached 2,200 students annually,accounting for 30% of the total annual enrolment, he said.
Dr Khai from the University of Transportation stated that the needfor training high-quality human resources was a strategic breakthrough for thecountry’s socio-economic development. However, some technical universities andcertain necessary fields for the country's development, such as construction,transportation, materials, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering,have struggled to attract students.
Moreover, the income of lecturers depended on enrolment numbers,leading to the tendency to admit as many students as possible, including thosewho did not meet the requirements for these majors, resulting in a lack ofquality graduates, he added.
Khai said the rapid and deep reduction in the number of studentsin Mathematics and Statistics, Computer Science and Information Technology,Engineering, Manufacturing and Processing, Architecture and Construction,Agriculture and Fisheries, and Veterinary Medicine, also showed the need forState regulation since higher education institutions were left to grapple withthe choices of the market economy.
Therefore, he said, to build a sustainable foundation forsocio-economic development in the 4.0 era, it was crucial to have a comprehensiveplan of training high-quality human resources through Government regulation andsolutions./.
VNA
