Fearing they won’t fill their classrooms, private universities are fishing for students everywhere. Even high school graduates who got very low marks on the university entrance exams have been invited to study at some of these schools.

High school graduates say they are unexpectedly receiving a lot of recruiting letters from some universities

High school graduates say they are unexpectedly receiving a lot of recruiting letters from some universities, even though they did not take the entrance exams to these schools or intend to study there.

Do Kien Toan, from a rural Ha Nam Province village, sat the entrance exams for the four-year Hanoi University of Mining and Geology and the two-year Hanoi College of Electronic and Electro-refrigeratory Technology. Toan got a low score, 10/30, the minimum he needs to qualify for the trade school.

While pondering whether to enroll at the two-year college, Toan received notices from many other schools, including some he’s never heard of, inviting him to enroll.

Some of the schools that contacted Toan have very high tuitions, and some seem to have reasonable costs. Toan’s interested enough to seek more information about several of them.

Nguyen Thi Hau, from the outskirts of Hanoi, scored only 11/30 on the the entrance exam for the Hanoi Agricultural University. With that modest result, she knows she can’t go there. And – just as in Toan’s case – a lot of other schools are inviting her to study. Hau’s not impressed, however. She says she’s never heard of these schools, all of which charge a high tuition.

Another young woman from Hau’s village, Nguyen Thi Thoa, passed the exam to the Agricultural University, but she’s not yet received her letter of acceptance. Meanwhile, Thoa has been bombarded by 20 invitations from other schools.

A local postman in Kim Binh, Ha Nam Province told reporters that since mid-July, he’s delivered an average of fifteen recruiting letters daily to students in his commune. Every student has received at least three such letters. Dang Vu Hai, the Kim Binh chairman said that’s not all; some schools have written to the people’s committee, leaving names blank, and asking the PC to introduce students to them. If any matriculate, the schools said, they’ll pay a gratuity to the local authorities!

It seems that there are too many universities and two year colleges, now some 440 nationwide, or not enough students who want to continue study after high school. A lot of marginal schools must scramble for learners. The Ministry of Education reports that the number of private post-secondary institutions has increased fivefold since 2000.

Professor Pham Minh Hac, a former Minister of Education and Training, said that the rush to open more universities and junior colleges has led to a drop in overall quality. And, because the supply of students has not kept up, many new schools have had to compete for the few ‘fish’ left in the pond.

Source: Nguoi lao dong