LookAtVietnam – Many students are not self-confident enough to follow their career dreams and may go to universities instead.

However, many students maintained that they lack self-confidence to make their way in the world and that they do not want to become independent.

Most students remain equivocal about their goals and how to obtain them while still in school. To prepare for their life’s work, students only know to study hard and gain as much knowledge as possible.

Many hope to study further because they are not self-confident enough to chase their career dreams right after they finish school

A majority remarked that they want to continue studying (75.4 percent) or study abroad (23.2 percent). They agreed that this is necessary to gain knowledge for their future. Some 83 percent of students intended to perform well in academic subjects, while 92 percent observed that they must learn foreign languages.

Bim Son High School Deputy Headmaster Nguyen Danh Nhu remarked that schools, students and their parents focus on learning subjects, while they have not paid necessary attention to others things, especially “soft skills.”

Du said that 60 percent of his school’s graduates pass university exams every year. However, it is unclear how many of them pursue higher education because they honestly want to continue studying or how many have a clear career plan.

Vietnam-Germany High School’s headmaster insisted that schools should offer career guidance, but most concentrate on providing students with knowledge, not necessary life skills.

The Education Research Institute surveyed 2000 students from high schools and four universities in HCM City, Hanoi, Danang and Can Tho in the period between June and November 2008.

VietNamNet/TP