LookAtVietnam – Vietnam’s vocational training colleges can hardly turn out enough skilled workers to meet the demands of Vietnam’s booming industrial sector.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, 773,000 students will not be able to enroll at any university this year since their scores are too low.

Many of these students will not give up their university dreams. They will enter vocational schools as a temporary expedient while preparing to repeat university entrance exams next year. University study is always the first choice of students; vocational schools are viewed as places for those with no other option.

Educators recommend that students change their outlook. In many cases, skilled workers find jobs more easily than those with a university degree.

The President of Lilama 2 Vocational College in Dong Nai province east of HCM City, Nguyen Van Hien, says that graduates of his college have easily found jobs as welders for South Korean contractors, earning $1,500 (25.5 million dong ) a month. Meanwhile, a university graduate who goes to work for a government agency gets two million dong a month.

The HCM City Human Resource Forecasting Center Deputy Director Tran Anh Tuan reports that skilled workers account for 20 percent of the labor force and they can obtain employment more easily and with a higher salary than university grads.

The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Vocational Training Department Deputy General Director Cao Van Sam confirms that many industries lack enough skilled laborers and are ready to pay well. The department reports that vocational schools plan to enroll 1.6 million trainees this year.

Sam said that some vocational branches have become hot thanks to high demand from factories in industrial as well as and export processing zones. Every student who finishes high-technology welding school can expect to receive an income of 10 million dong a month.

As a trainer, Tran Tan Dung from Cao Thang Polytechnical College, said that mechanics, electricians, refrigeration engineers and car assemblers are now the most coveted. Dung also said that welders can easily find jobs if they complete the training course for international certification, especially that of the American Welding Society.

Vinashin Vocational College President Nguyen Dinh Tam also said that most of his graduates obtain jobs. The Hai Phong City school has trained 8,000 students over the last four years. Almost all are working for the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin), the parent group of the college.

VietNamNet/TBKTVN