Universities nationwide should amend their social sciences and
humanities curricula to make them more job-orientated, experts said at a
workshop yesterday, March 30.

Students at a stall promoting university courses in social sciences and humanities at a higher education and vocational guidance fair. (Photo: VNS)

Dr Le Huu Phuoc, vice
rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said that the main
objective of students now is a job after graduating, so they choose faculties
accordingly.

Universities with
social sciences and humanities faculties should amend their current curricula to
make them more attractive and practical, providing knowledge and skills that
could be used in their future jobs, he said.

For example, in the
Literature and Linguistics faculty, students are taught to work as reporters and
other official workers besides becoming linguistic researchers. They were also
provided with updated knowledge in the field, Phuoc said about his university.

Universities should
co-operate between faculties to enhance the utility of their courses, he said.

For example, in his
university, the geography and tourism faculties co-operated with each other, and
this helped increase applicants for relevant courses, he said.

“It is very important
that universities know and meet students’ demand.”

Do Van Binh, head of
the Van Hien University’s Sociology Faculty, suggested that the Viet Nam Academy
of Social Sciences co-operates with the Ministry of Science and Technology to
develop social sciences and humanities faculties for the next 10 years.

The project would
focus on improving the capacity of lecturers, amending the curricula and deploy
more effective means of communication to stress the important role these
faculties play, Binh said.

In recent years,
these faculties have become unpopular among youth. Most of them thought that it
was difficult to find a job after graduating from these faculties, Binh said.

A report by the
Ministry of Education and Training showed that the number of applicants for
social sciences and humanities faculties decreased from 6.41 per cent in the
2006-07 school year to 2 per cent in the 2008-09 school year.

Binh said, the
curricula used by these faculties were outdated and propagandistic in nature.
“They are not practical,” he added.

Nguyen Thi Thanh,
former student of the Van Hien University, said that she and her classmates did
not have enough information on social sciences and humanities faculties like
sociology, physical education, and psychology when they were in high school.

Nguyen Duc Hiep,
former teacher at the Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted, said that
universities with these faculties should take the initiative of approaching
students at high school and provide enough information on them.

Tran Mai Uoc, a
lecturer of Banking University, suggested the application of the
conceive-design-implement-operate (CDIO) model, usually applied in engineering
courses, be used in social sciences and humanities faculties to standardise and
amend the curricula as well as teaching methods and the learning environment.

This would lead to
the creation of a skilled human resource base and help universities attract more
applicants to these faculties, Uoc said.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News