Several attractive activities aiming to provide career guidance to high school students are being regularly organised in order to equip students with updated knowledge about careers to help them choose suitable academic disciplines.
 |
For a long time, grammar schools have been criticized for providing inadequate career guidance. Since students do not have sufficient knowledge about careers, they simply choose schools to continue study based on their intuitions. Taking university entrance exams to become university students after finishing secondary school is the norm, even though many students are not well prepared for the exam or are interested in careers that do not require university. “Study at universities first, think about jobs later,” is the thought of many students.
As a result, many incapable students fail the university entrance exams after wasting their parents’ money on exam preparation. Other students become university students, but they quit school after a short period of studying because they realize that the jobs do not fit them. Many others cannot find jobs after they finish universities, because they do not have necessary skills.
However, things seem to be quite different now.
The annual Vietnamese Teachers’ Day celebration ceremony at Nguyen Binh Khiem High School in Dak Lak School always includes a special item: students learn about their teachers’ job by communicating with teachers of the school.
At the last year’s ceremony, an 11th grade raised a question to Nguyen Thi Thuy, a chemistry teacher: “What characteristics do teachers need to have in order to perform their job well?”
“Teachers need to love their job, love students, and they need to possess kindness, selflessness, and fairness. Besides, in order to become good teachers, they must study pedagogy so that they can understand students and help them strive to become good scientists, businessmen and genuine workers,” Thuy replied. “Teachers need constantly create new assignments and share ideas with one another. It would be better if teachers can play musical instruments or sing songs”.
Nguyen Thi Thuong, a teacher in charge of career guidance of Nguyen Binh Khiem High School, said that every year, the school organizes career guidance activities with six themes, integrating into big anniversary days, such as communicating with teachers on the Vietnamese Teachers’ Day, with doctors on the Vietnamese Physicians, or with soldiers on National Defense Day.
Besides, the school also invites good businessmen or farmers in Krong Pak district, or students’ parents, who work in different fields, to talk to students about their opportunities. Thuong believes that communicating with workers proves to be the best way to help students imagine their future jobs.
Especially, the school has posed an interesting theme for discussion: “Gender equality and gender issues in choosing careers”. Thuong said this will provide students with the knowledge about the advantages and disadvantages of female and male students in choosing careers.
A teacher a guide
Phan Thanh Nhuan, Deputy Headmaster of Le Quy Don High School in Tam Ky district in Quang Nam province, said that his students receive career guidance from the time they enter school until they finish.
“We think that choosing academic disciplines and choosing careers are the “turning points” in the life of every student. Therefore, all the teachers of the schools need to join forces to guide students,” he said.
Every year, the school sends teachers to the training courses organised by the Quang Nam Education and Training Department. The teachers then will train other teachers, so that every teacher can act as an advisor to students. The school regularly updates information about universities to provide to students, so that students can consider their interests and abilities before registering to take university entrance exams.
Not only teachers, but parents and former students of high schools have also joined forces to help students choose suitable careers. In mid February 2011, more than 2000 students of Nguyen Thuong Hien High School in HCM City and their parents attended “Career Day 2011.”
