The number of university students, who follow advanced training programmes, has been decreasing year after year.
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| Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan meets students of the HCM City University for Natural Sciences. |
The training costs are 10 times higher than the costs of normal programmes.
The information was released by Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga at the working session between Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan and the University for Natural Sciences under the HCM City National University on the advanced training programs on April 5.
According to Ga, the tuition for a student of the “advanced programs” is 10 times higher than the cost for normal programmes. Meanwhile, according to Dr Nguyen Duc Nghia, Deputy Director of the HCM City National University, the training cost for a student of the “advanced training programmes” may be up to 160 million dong a year, or eight times higher than the cost for student of the “talented bachelor programmes”, about 20 million dong a year.
“If the State does not continue supporting the advanced training program, it will die with such a high tuition level,” Nghia said. “The State should support universities to maintain the programs, while schools will have to make every effort to develop the programs”.
Associate Professor Duong Ai Phuong, President of the HCM City University for Natural Sciences, said that schools have to filter students to choose the best for the advanced programmes, therefore, it is difficult to choose students for the programmes. Meanwhile, many excellent students, who are eligible for the advanced programmes, do not have financial capability to participate in the programs.
“It is worth of thinking if advanced programmes do not have many excellent students,” Phuong said.
Meanwhile, Professor Duong Nguyen Vu, who has been teaching information technology since the first days of the advanced programme, has suggested that the Ministry of Education and Training should think about the “output” for students of the advanced programmes.
In general, students of the programmes, after finishing universities, want to continue studying rather than begin working. Besides, Vu has urged the Ministries of Finance, and Education and Training to create most favorable conditions for students to borrow money to follow their studies, because many excellent students come from unfortunate families.
Students also complained that they have many difficulties when participating in advanced programmes. They proposed the Deputy Prime Minister apply a preferential policy on the students of the advanced programmes, under which they can borrow more money that the currently applied level of eight million dong a year.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that the state props up 60 percent of the total expenses of the advanced programmes, while students pay 25 percent and schools 15 percent. Though the tuition levels are different in different schools and localities, the average tuition is 20-30 million dong a year, which is unaffordable for many students.
According to the Ministry of Finance, it is necessary to mobilize capital from different sectors in society for the development of advanced programs which will provide high quality workers to enterprises. Businessmen should join forces with schools to build up reasonable curriculums.
There are now 23 universities that are providing 35 advanced programmes, and have a total of 1000 students. However, the number of students has been decreasing step by step. In 2006, when the advanced programmes were kicked off, the University for Natural Sciences enrolled 55 students, but now there are only 36. The second training course enrolled 49, but there are only 33 now. The third, fourth and fifth training courses gathered 33, 34 and 25 students.
