'Recruiting and waiting' for students

GD&TĐ - Nghe An Department of Education and Training has a plan to rearrange vocational education and continuing education centers in the area in a streamlined manner, suitable to the new situation and learners' needs.

To attract students, VocationalEducation - Continuing Education Centers (VEC) in Nghe An have actively coordinated with secondary schools in career guidance and orientation while ensuring the quality of teaching and training.

Hard times

In the 2025-2026 school year, the Do Luong Continuing Education Center was assigned by the Nghe An Department of Education and Training to enroll 8 10th grade classes with 360 students. However, up to this point, the number of applications for admission has only reached about 4 classes.

Regarding the issue of 10th grade enrollment this year, Mr. Trinh Van Toan - Director of the Do Luong Continuing Education Center said that the difficult situation was predicted because the number of 9th grade students decreased significantly compared to previous years. Meanwhile, the enrollment quota for 10th grade in public high schools in the area remains the same. This leads to a narrowing of the unit's mechanical recruitment source.

According to Mr. Trinh Van Toan, in recent years, the center has always focused on improving the quality of cultural education as well as linking vocational training for students. Thanks to that, it has built up prestige among students and parents. If students are not admitted to public high schools in Do Luong commune, they will not go to other high schools far away, but register at the Continuing Education Center. The number and quality of annual enrollment are basically stable.

According to the Director of the Do Luong Vocational Education and Continuing Education Center, the difficulty in recruiting students this year and not being able to meet the enrollment target will directly affect the activities as well as the lives of teachers and staff. Currently, the unit only has 12 positions, including both managers and teachers.

“To meet the teaching needs, the unit has to contract more than 20 teachers and deduct from regular expenses, tuition, and extra teaching fees to pay. However, from 2025, implementing Circular 29/2024 of the Ministry of Education and Training , we have stopped teaching and learning extra lessons with student fees. Therefore, the unit has to use other sources to pay salaries for contract teachers,” said Mr. Toan.

According to statistics and forecasts from the Nghe An Department of Education and Training, the number of ninth graders will increase by more than 4,000 in the coming school year and will continue to increase in the following years. Therefore, a representative of the Do Luong Continuing Education Center said that whether or not the unit has recruited enough teachers, it will still maintain a stable teaching staff and balance revenue and expenditure sources to ensure the regime for contract teachers.

They are all people who have been with the center for many years, have good professional skills, and are dedicated to their profession and students. This year's difficulties are only temporary, so we will try to overcome them," said Mr. Toan.

Dien Chau Vocational Education and Continuing Education Center is also a stable enrollment unit for many years. According to Ms. Vo Thi Hang - Director of the center, in previous years, the center was assigned 10 classes - among the top in the province, but there were times when the number of applications exceeded the quota. The center had to make a proposal to the Department of Education and Training to add quota to ensure the rights and needs of learners.

This year, the number of 9th graders is expected to decrease, so the center's proposed and approved enrollment plan was reduced to 8 10th graders with 360 students. Of which, the number of applications for the first choice has more than 160 students. However, because some neighboring public high schools have maintained or increased their 10th grade quotas, the center's enrollment is slower than in previous years.

“Currently, the center receives scattered applications from students who failed to pass the high school entrance exam and registered their second choice at the center. Up to now, we are still short of about 20 students and will continue to enroll until the quota is met,” said Ms. Vo Thi Hang.

Experiential activity at Dien Chau Vocational Education and Continuing Education Center. Photo: NTCC

Proactively plan for student streaming and enrollment

Bui Manh Cuong (former student of Tuong Son Secondary School) was officially on the list of more than 200 students admitted in the first batch to Anh Son Continuing Education Center. Before that, realizing that his academic ability would make it difficult for him to pass the public high school entrance exam, the male student voluntarily did not take the 10th grade entrance exam, but instead registered his first choice at the Continuing Education Center.

The male student said that he was advised by teachers and the school and proactively placed in a suitable stream according to his abilities and wishes. This decision helped him reduce the pressure of studying for the 10th grade entrance exam and was also suitable for his family's conditions and circumstances.

This year, Anh Son Continuing Education Center was assigned a quota of 5 10th grade classes with 225 students. Of which, the center will consider the first choice with 80% of the quota, and the remaining 20% ​​will be for the second choice. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha - Deputy Director of the center, dividing this ratio helps the school proactively plan the enrollment, while also taking into account the input quality factor.

In fact, students with the first choice are all in the stream, and have a hard time passing the 10th grade entrance exam to public high schools, so they proactively register for continuing education centers to "ensure admission". Therefore, the general quality of the input of the centers is quite low. As for those who do not pass the first choice to high school, but apply for the second choice to the school, have gone through a full period of study and review, so the quality will be better.

Currently, compared to the target, the unit has recruited enough students for the first choice and has about 20 students left. However, these students are still included in the admission list to reserve for cases where they drop out of school in the middle, or choose to go to another training facility. As for the target group for the second choice, the center continues to recruit students.

The center's leaders also informed that some areas will have difficulty enrolling students this year due to the decrease in the number of 9th grade students. However, for Anh Son Vocational Education and Continuing Education Center, due to the improvement in the quality of education and training in recent years, early planning and proactive enrollment in primary school, the unit has not been affected much. Currently, although enrollment has not been completed, the unit is still optimistic about enrolling enough students as planned.

Tan Ky Vocational Education and Continuing Education Center has basically recruited enough 3 10th grade classes for the 2025-2026 school year. According to Mr. Nguyen Hai Thuong - Director, in the past time, the center has closely coordinated with local schools in the work of streaming and orienting students after junior high school.

The awareness of students and people has also changed, with a more complete understanding of cultural studies and vocational training. Most students and parents want their children to finish high school before going to work and earning money. Meanwhile, enrolling in a vocational education and continuing education center with low tuition fees, close to home, will be suitable for the students' circumstances, especially those of ethnic minorities.

According to information from the Nghe An Department of Education and Training, from July 1, along with the implementation of the two-level local government, the vocational education and continuing education centers in the province have also been officially transferred to the department for management. To increase operational efficiency and avoid overlapping functions and tasks, the Nghe An Department of Education and Training is developing a plan to arrange vocational education and continuing education centers.

Accordingly, it is expected that the vocational education department will be transferred to vocational secondary schools and the remaining 10 vocational training centers across the province will be merged. The rearrangement will also help the units to recruit students, solve the problem of teacher shortage and focus on investing in facilities.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/vua-tuyen-vua-cho-hoc-sinh-post738366.html