Vietnam

Vietnam Representative:

Phoenix Ho

Founder and CEO
Song An Career Development Social Enterprise
Vietnam@AsiaPacificCDA.org

October 2023 Vietnam Report

Economy:

  • The World Bank’s most recent report for Vietnam shows that Vietnam’s economic growth slowed from 8% in 2022 to 3.7% in the first half of 2023. It forecasts a moderate growth of 4.7% in 2023, gradually accelerating to 5.5% in 2024 and 6.0% in 2025.
  • On the micro level, in meetings with other small to medium enterprises, we received similar sharings about the not-so-positive picture of their business performance. In addition, normal conversations with workers on the streets (grab bikes, taxis, supermarkets) and around the neighborhood show a gloomy perspective of their family and individual’s financial situation.
  • On the bright side, many of us express hope for a better year in 2024 and even a better year in 2025.

Employment:

Some highlights from General Statistics Office’s report on The Light And Dark Shades In The Labor Market And Employment Picture In The Second Quarter And The First Half Of 2023:

  • Positive Signals:
    • The labor force in Vietnam aged 15 and over increased compared to the previous quarter and the same period last year.
    • Employment also saw an increase during the same periods.
    • The percentage of trained labor force with degrees and certificates increased slightly.
    • The average income of employees showed an increase compared to the same period in the previous year.
    • The rate of underutilized labor decreased compared to the peak experienced in the third quarter of 2021.
  • Challenges and Negative Aspects:
    • Despite the increase in the labor force and employment, the labor market faces difficulties and challenges due to the lingering impact of various negative shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic issues.
    • Unemployment rates and underemployment among the working-age population have increased compared to the previous quarter.
    • Many employees have been forced to take leave, face severance, or lose their jobs since the fourth quarter of 2022, and this trend is shifting toward the informal sector.
    • Informal employment remains a significant proportion of the labor market, indicating instability and low job security.
    • The South East region, typically with a low underemployment rate, has been affected due to reduced orders in large enterprises.
    • The growth rate of income has slowed down compared to the previous year.
  • Policy Recommendations:
    • Implement policies to support businesses and employees, stimulate domestic demand, and explore new markets and orders for businesses.
    • Develop high-quality human resources to meet the needs of various industries and fields.
    • Improve the training quality of vocational education institutions and support training and re-training for employees.
    • Enhance the labor market management system to ensure timely and effective matching of labor supply and demand, as well as employment and social security.
  • In summary, the labor market in Vietnam is showing signs of recovery in terms of labor force and employment, but challenges such as underemployment, informal employment, and slow income growth persist. Effective policies and measures are needed to address these challenges and ensure a stable and sustainable labor market.

Career Development:

Research Project:

Receiving numerous requests for support in the year 2022 from workers with age range from 23 to 33, Sông An Social Enterprise conducted a research to learn about the most common problems that workers face. The outstanding issues include:

  • Losing interest in the current job
  • Feeling confused or uncertain about the future career path
  • Encountering workplace conflicts that hinder personal development

Deeper conversations provided us a picture of workers normalizing their career problems instead of treating it as a serious matter that needs to be solved. They reach out to friends to vent their frustrations intermittently and then return to their status quote in career development.

As a result, we are reaching out to stakeholders in the media to co-lead a social campaign with the aim of raising awareness about the seriousness of career problems to Vietnamese workers.

  • Community project: the working group released “Career development self-guided manual for students who plan to study abroad”.
  • Teachers’ Training: we learned that at this moment it’s difficult for teachers to learn the needed knowledge and skills in the field of career development (despite all the e-learning and lesson plan resources we provide). We therefore switch to the plan of creating the ready to use materials for them, which requires a grant because it’ll cost lots of money.
  • Virtual National Career Fair for High School Students: Song-An Social Enterprise is holding a Virtual National Career Fair for 1000 students and 500 parents in January 2024. Our goal is to provide a neutral and professional career fair where students and parents access not only university information on programs but also career development workshops that help them get ready for their career decision making.

April 2023 Vietnam Report

General Statistics Office:

Key Indicators:

Service Activities in Quarter 1 of 2023 (compared to Quarter 1 of 2022):

Investment in Quarter 1 of 2023 (compared to Quarter 1 of 2022):

Employment in Quarter 1 of 2023:

Career Development:

  • Community projects:
  • Lesson Plans Library for Career Teachers nationwide. Teachers can access these lesson plans for free, ask for support from the Careers Teachers Community on Facebook, and provide feedback for ongoing improvement.
  • From September 2022 to April 2023, there have been 604 downloads.
  • Online course for Career Teachers: Song-An Social Enterprise released the Online Training Course on Canvas for Career Teachers nationwide. The first 1000 teachers can study for free. Teachers can access the learning materials for a lifetime. Upon completion of this course, teachers have basic knowledge of career development concepts and use the Lesson Plans Library to teach effectively.
  • From October 2022 to April 2023, 155 scholarships have been given out and 56 teachers received the Certificate of Completion.
  • Highlight: Vietnam career development teachers community is still in its early stages, where teachers are too busy to learn. The good news is that those who make an effort to try really put their time and effort into their learning.
  • Online Drop-In Career Consulting for Grade 12 students
  • 325 direct views of the livestream webinar which is happening concurrently with the Drop-In Sessions; 2,000+ people reach and 1,000+ video views within 24 hours post program.
  • 40 students attended the Drop-In Career Consulting Session, which is 25 minutes long in a private Zoom room.
  • 34 Career Consultants in 20 private Zoom rooms.
  • Drop-In Sessions were rated 4.6/5, which was the highest of all public events for students until now
  • Upcoming community projects:
  • Career Choice Guidebook for high school students planning to study abroad – publishing before the end of June 2023.
  • Career Development Self-Study Course for College Students – publishing before the end of April 2023.

  • APCDA related matters:

    • Expression of starting a local affiliate by two APCDA members in Vietnam (Le Tuan-Anh and Chau Nguyen). Will update more in the future.

November 2022 Vietnam Report

Economy:

  • Vietnam’s economy is expected to grow by 7.2% in 2022, on the back of a strong rebound in domestic demand and continued solid performance by export-oriented manufacturing, according to the World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, October 2022.
  • On the other hand, insight from peers in the financial field as well as from small enterprises showed financial challenges for small enterprises. Individuals minimize their spending to need-based expenses, and companies are struggling to keep their business going.

Employment:

  • As surveyed in the third quarter of 2022 in Vietnam, 64.8 percent of the respondents worked full-time and considered their job their single source of income. On the other hand, over three percent of the respondents reported having reduced salaries at the moment due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

https://www.statista.com/

Career Development:

  • Community project: the working group released Lesson Plans Library for Career Teachers nationwide. Teachers can access these lesson plans for free, ask for support from the Careers Teachers Community on Facebook, and provide feedback for ongoing improvement. So far we have seen 379 downloads of the lesson plans.
  • Social Campaign – Online course for Career Teachers: Song-An Social Enterprise released the Online Training Course on Canvas for Career Teachers nationwide. The first 1000 teachers can study for free. Song-An continues to raise funds from the community to find scholarships for post-1000 teachers. Teachers can access the learning materials for a lifetime. Upon completion of this course, teachers have basic knowledge of career development concepts and use the Lesson Plans Library to teach effectively. So far we have given out 101 scholarship recipients in this course.

Upcoming:

  • In discussion with Sun Silk brand for a project that focuses on girls empowerment/career development.
  • In discussion with Google Cloud for a project that focuses on Google Cloud digital education in Vietnam.

August 2022 Vietnam Report

General Update:

  • The Ministry of Education and Training in Vietnam demands that all schools this year implement the new curriculum, in which Grades 6, 7, and 10 must implement the career education program. Things are quite chaotic at the moment due to the lack of support for skills training and teaching resources for teachers. 
  • Since April, Sông An Career Development Social Enterprise has led two community projects (free of charge) to support the teachers.
  • We wrote a Career Manual for Grade 9 students to help them in their career decision at the end of lower secondary school. Teachers and parents can also read this manual and support their children/students alongside.
  • We created a Working Group to write the framework and lesson plans that provide teachers nationwide resources to teach the required career education program. We are launching this product before this school year starts (5 September 2022).

May 2022 Vietnam Report

General Update:
  • Unemployment Rate in Vietnam decreased to 2.46 percent in the first quarter of 2022 from 3.56 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021. source: General Statistics Office of Vietnam
  • New general educational curriculum for grade 10 to grade 12 will be implemented this coming school year (2022-2023), causing disruption and an increased surge in career development preparation for parents and students. 
  • The new curriculum is designed to allow more time for outdoor and recreational activities, as well as for developing competency in practical areas. In addition to the required subjects, high school students will also be able to choose optional subjects in social science, natural science, technology and arts. 
  • In theory, this new curriculum is good news to the students. In practice, it is tough for the school to implement the changes due to lack of competent teachers and well-structured operation system.
COVID-19 Update
  • March 17: Vietnam reopened for international tourism with the health ministry releasing entry procedures for foreign arrivals. The Deputy Prime Minister also asked the relevant ministries to resume entry, exit, and visa procedures as before the pandemic. The e-visa government website is open for visa submissions.
  • To ease congestion at airports, Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has asked localities to temporarily suspend health declarations at airports from April 27.
Sông An Career Development Social Enterprise
  • Podcast for parents to promote early career education for their children
  • Vocational encyclopedia: international career resources gave Sông An permission to translate a number of articles into Vietnamese for public access
  • NCDA’s Career Convergence 
  • CERIC
  • Published Manual for Career Practitioners in Vietnam in February 2022

November 2021 Vietnam Report

  1. Vietnam lifted the lockdown in its largest city, HoChiMinh City, and 18 southern provinces, at the beginning of October, ending nearly three months of restrictions on movement to curb a coronavirus surge. After that, tens of thousands of migrant workers rushed to return to their hometowns, due to unemployment in the last 3 months. 
  2. Vietnam National Career Development Conference, hosted by Song An Social Enterprise, will take place on 5 December, 2021. The conference’s name, literally translated from Vietnamese, is “Strong from the roots, steady in the future.” The theme of the conference is around “from education to and through employment,” with the goal to connect the three isolated factors, learners/workers, educational institutions, and the labour market into an ecosystem. 
  1. The English version of Vietnam CDP (Career Development Practitioners) Competency Framework, introduced to our group in the last meeting, is now available. We will submit it to the APCDA Journal this week.  
  2. Song An started a community project on building the Competency Framework for Entry Level Workers. Thanks to Hector Lin, we were connected to Jeremiah from Workforce Singapore. This project will take time to complete but we will make sure it is not delayed any longer.
  3. Many virtual career development activities hosted by the companies, schools, and universities have taken place recently (a lot more than a year before) to support high school students and university students in their career development. 

May 2021 Vietnam Report

The Vietnam CDP (Career Development Practitioners) Competency Framework, initiated by the Vietnam APCDA team, sponsored by Song An Career Development Social Enterprise, was published in Vietnamese at the end of April 2021. View link

here

The English version will be available at the end of May 2021. Vietnam CPD Competency Framework was created following the below steps:

Literature review of APCDA Career Services Competencies, Competency Framework for Career Development Practitioners in South Africa, CICA’s Professional Standards for Australian Career Development Practitioners, and NCDA’s Career Counseling Competencies.

Initial input from Marilyn Maze of APCDA; review and input from Col McCowan and

Mary McMahon from Australia and Connie Pritchard from the USA.

Input from career practitioners in Vietnam to make the materials suitable for the local usage.

The main difference between Vietnam CDP Competency Framework and the others is that the former one provides the “Observable Behaviors” for each listed competency. This part was  specifically requested by the local career practitioners.  The project team plans to receive ongoing feedback from the users for further development of this framework one year from now.

Vietnam CDP now has 22 members, compared to 12 members in 2019. That is an increase of 80%, bringing us to the 6th largest member country.

January 2021 Vietnam Report

  1. Vietnam CDP (Career Development Practitioners) Competency Framework, initiated by the Vietnam APCDA team, sponsored by Song An Career Development Social Enterprise, will be published in English and Vietnamese at the end of February 2021.

2. The Scholarship Team Member of APCDA has encouraged Vietnamese candidates to apply for the scholarships APCDA annual scholarships. So far there is one applicant from Vietnam. We will be working harder with individuals to encourage them to apply for the scholarship.

3.  A career guidance book for parents was published in the last quarter of 2020 by Song An Career Development Social Enterprise and was warmly welcomed by the parents.

4.  The Competency Development Center of Van Lang University has applied the Career Services Delivery Model to serve their current 30,000 students. By that they mean: the information channel that is accessible to all students, live stream events where a large number of students can attend and/or review later in their free time, small-group programs where fewer students participate, and one on one career consulting service for those who need further assistance. Van Lang University has also integrated career education into the entry courses (college studying course, community course, teamwork course) for 1st-year students.

October 2020 Vietnam Report

COVID-19’s impact on Vietnam: The country’s GDP was still growing at a 0.4 percent in the second quarter of 2020 (an exceptional rate during the pandemic), but it was the worst performance recorded over the past 35 years. The Ministry of Labor also reported that urban unemployment rose by 33 percent during the second quarter, while the average income per worker decreased by five percent. Granted, thanks to the easing of social distancing since late April, most family businesses have resumed their activities, and almost all wage workers are back to work, according to a recent phone survey conducted by the World Bank Group.

Policy news: The Ministry of Education and Training announced the Draft Circular regulating career guidance, job counseling and start-up support in educational institutions. Department of Political Education and Student Affairs has been collecting input from all who have interests in this subject. The Circular is expected to be implemented in year 2021. This is good news for the career development practitioners’ community in Vietnam.

Career development job news: Recruiting for the career consultants from the local universities and high schools increased in year 2020.

 

  • Van Lang University recruited 4 career consultants
  • British University Vietnam recruited a couple of career services staff
  • Fulbright University Vietnam recruited a career counselor
  • Tue Duc high school recruited 1 career teacher
  • And a number of other high schools recruited career teachers as well

For a country which is still in the infantry stage of career development, this is positive news for those practitioners who want to find employment in the career development field.

Career education news: Van Lang University successfully introduced career development topic into an elective course, the first of its kind in Vietnam.

E-Training news: Song An Career Development Social Enterprise successfully provided their 100% online training programs to the parents and the teachers of 28 provinces/cities (out of 68) in Vietnam and 4 countries outside of Vietnam.

Vietnam Competency Framework: APCDA Vietnam has been working on building the competency framework for the Vietnamese career practitioners. We passed the first phase of receiving input from international experts. Now we are in the second phase of collecting feedback from the local practitioners. We hope to launch the framework in December 2020.

 

Whats happening with Career Development in Vietnam?

by Vietnam Insight (Hon Viet) Team Members Phoenix Ho, Dang Phuong Uyen, and Le Tuan Anh

Career development in Vietnam is still at its early stage. With an increasing demand for developing a local network in this field, we organized the first Vietnam career conference with the topic ‘Multi-perspectives on Career Development’ in December 2018. The conference attracted 130 participants including career practitioners, teachers, and human resources professionals.

On the other hand, a few years ago, a small group of educators planted a seed of hope to bring the APCDA conference to Vietnam. The dream has come true. The annual APCDA 2019 conference was hosted in our homeland from May 21 to 25. This is the largest APCDA conference so far with the participation of 234 career development professionals from around the world to share their best case practices andSince its inception in 2018, Vietnam Insight (Hon Viet) always strives to build a community of dedicated and competent Vietnamese career practitioners. We have offered train-the-trainer programs to better equip career consultants, teachers, as well as parents with necessary competencies to fulfill their roles. Until June 2019, nearly 200 career consultants, teachers, and parents completed the training programs. After completing the training program, the graduates were asked to join the biweekly, peer-supervision, career guidance sessions or monthly group supervision. 

We also organized key events throughout the year to strengthen our still small yet active career development network. For instance, a conference named ‘Gather to learn’ was held by Vietnam Insight in June 2018 in Ho Chi Minh City. Sixty-seven Vietnamese career practitioners throughout Vietnam gathered to foster peer learning through six sharing sessions and other learning activities. Furthermore, we are building a career resources platform for youth, parents and career practitioners. With the backbone-based theory of careers and vocational choice by John L. Holland and other important career theories, we have introduced popular career assessment tools and existing career resources such as ILO publications to the public. Also, we have created initiatives tailored to the needs of younger users. An example of this is the illustration book of 6 Holland codes. Our industry overview webinars and real people profiles are also getting good feedback from the audience.

Although this is still a new field in Vietnam, career development is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years in our country. Therefore, we look forward to connecting more with career-oriented organizations and international experts to learn and exchange career experiences.

Phoenix Ho is currently the director of the Career Education and Guidance Center of Vietnam Insight (Hon Viet). Ms Ho has over ten years of experience in the field of education, counseling, career counseling, and career guidance education. Some of her skills include career services leadership and management, program management, train-the-trainer facilitating, career counseling, career program teaching, curriculum development, MBA course lecturing, parenting workshop facilitating, community radio show hosting, substance abuse prevention, data collection and analysis, interviewing and writing, theatre art performing, and classroom management. Ms Ho is recognized by students, clients, staff, and colleagues as a passionate counselor, effective team player, holistic leader, and community change agent.

Uyen Dang is a change-maker at heart. She aspires to leverage the power of social entrepreneurship and guidance services towards creating systemic changes in education. Ms Dang is at the first stepping-stone of her new journey at Vietnam Insight to co-create and sustain a Careers Education and Guidance center following the Teal Organization model introduced in the book Reinventing Organizations, by Frederic Laloux. Her previous work spanned from leading youth organizations/working groups such as Enactus UEH, AIESEC HCMC and WEF Global Shapers HCMC, to fostering public-private partnerships for innovations such as Circular Economy projects with leading multinational companies and the Frontier Innovators program of the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s innovationXchange to support impact businesses in the Asia-Pacific region.

Anh Tuan Le is the career counselor at the Career Education and Guidance Center of Vietnam Insight. With a background in communication, Mr. Le built a very strong personal branding as a blogger of career development among Vietnamese youth. He also published two books about job searching and personal branding. Mr. Le loves working with students, helps them to explore their career journey based on their personal development.

A Snapshot of The Challenges for New Graduates

by Chau Nguyen, Vietnam Country/Regional Director, APCDA
Graduation is a milestone marking the official transition from school to work. While the prospect of future employment seems promising, new graduates in Vietnam have their own concerns and challenges in seeking jobs according to a latest report from Navigos, the leading recruitment agency in Vietnam. The report points out challenges students face and suggestions on how to overcome those challenges. It sheds light on how higher education institutions and employers can assist students in work readiness with appropriate strategies and solutions. Of the main findings, a lack of career orientation is one of the major factors that hinders fresh graduates from seeking jobs; 38% of respondents admit this unclear career orientation. Others factors include:
  • lack of job availability in their fields of study (33%)
  • low average starting salary (36%)
  • 33% express that they lack job searching skill
  • 35% think they are unqualified for the job openings due to their qualifications, soft skills, work experience and language competency.

The Navigos’ report also reveals an evident gap between school-delivered knowledge and real work practice; according to 61% of respondents. Because of this and previously mentioned challenges, the respondents expect schools to provide active guidance and support in career orientation. Over 67% of respondents demand schools to organize workshops with industry guest speakers as well as develop real-world internship program through partnership with suitable host companies (66%). In addition, 49% expect schools to provide soft skills training workshops and foreign language training (53%).

Looking to a future 5-year career plan post graduation, 29% of respondents expect to be promoted to managerial positions, whereas 26% of respondents wish to try out various jobs before committing to one position. Notably, less than 10% show an interest in pursuing a postgraduate degree. As far as the readiness for Industry 4.0 is concerned, 

while 46% of respondents show their interest in and preparation to embrace the changes of the fourth industrial revolution, more than half of them show little to no interest or provide neutral opinion.

The Navigos’ report lays out suggestions for education institutions, employers and new employees to tackle challenges and grasp opportunities.

To be effective providers of a capable workforce, schools should understand the evolving demands from the job markets and accordingly equip students with a proper mindset and the needed knowledge and skills, especially in an era where Industry 4.0 is gaining prominence, to successfully embrace changes. Schools should develop and expand close links with employers in training and leveraging the next generation of the workforce. Schools should also provide support to students through career orientation, workshops, careers fairs and more.

To attract, engage and retain young employees, employers are encouraged to develop a thorough employee journey encompassing pre-recruitment, recruitment and on-the-job stages where clear career roadmaps and progressive training are critical factors. Employers should customize positions suitable to new graduates and transparently assist them with developing their career paths. Employers should prioritize training and development in order to enhance young employees via internal courses, mentorship or external training programs.

In order to ensure a smooth transition from school to work, students should actively prepare themselves for employment with the right mindset and necessary knowledge and skills. They should be self-motivated and notice requirements from the job markets. Life-long learning is needed to remain relevant and compatible with ever-changing requirements. They should seek support and guidance from supervisors and other field experts to best develop a clear career path. In addition, in the age of globalization and with Vietnam as a top FDI recipient in the region, new graduates must improve language competency and soft skills in order to boost career prospects. As the fourth Industrial revolution brings about changes at an unprecedented speed and impacts to the labor market, new graduates should strive to stay on top of change in order remain secure in the marketplace.

Vietnam Snapshot

Compiled from Vietnam.net by Chau Nyugen

Enrollment Surges in Vietnam’s Vocational Schools Vocational schools in Vietnam were long considered less favorable than universities. Today they are experiencing a spike in enrollment. Vocational schools, under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, are becoming attractive to students because they guarantee employment to all students after graduation. This is the first year the Ministry of Education and Training started maintianing separate enrollment data for vocational schools. Vocational schools made concerted efforts to attract students by updating core curriculum, connecting with enterprises and designing the course as per enterprises’ demand to ensure employment for students. Students in vocational schools enjoy short courses and are guaranteed jobs after graduation. Partnership programs between schools and enterprises help deliver training courses to students who are taken on as a graduate trainee in the school’s partnered companies and the companies recruit students after graduation. Vietnam Universities’ New Ranking Stirs Controversy The most reputable economics schools ranked below average on a list of 49 schools surveyed by a group of six specialists from Vietnamese and foreign institutions. The ranking, announced on September 6, showed that some young schools, which are less prestigious in Vietnamese eyes, were rated highly, while the older schools, which set high requirements for incoming students, were ranked below average, or at the bottom of the list.

Hanoi National University is in the first position. The country’s leading medical schools in HCMC and Hanoi are in the 18th and 20th positions, though they are well known as schools which select only the best students.

According to Le Truong Tung, president of FPT University, a good school must have good training, research, internationalization, and a high employment rate of graduates. He commented that the surveyors mostly considered the first two criteria, or ‘classic criteria’, while neglecting the other criteria, which are exceedingly important in the globalization era.

Doubts were raisedabout the sources of materials the specialists used to determine the ranking.

Meanwhile Nguyen Huu Duc, deputy director of the Hanoi National University, pointed out three shortcomings. First, there are no opinions from independent scientists. Foreign ranking organizations would appreciate opinions from scientists. For example, to assess a school with physics training, they would contact physicists to learn if the school has any famous professors or PhDs in the field.

Second, as there are multidisciplinary and single-training major schools, it is necessary to set up criteria for different groups of schools. Third, there are no opinions from employers.

The specialists assessed schools based on three criteria: scientific research, education quality, and infrastructure and management, with the first two accounting for 80 percent of the scores.

Career Planning in Secondary Schools in Vietnam

by Chau Nguyen
In this update we would like to share a few key highlights in Vietnam in secondary education. They have created significant impact on Career Guidance Activities in Vietnam and required a shift in focus for practitioners and organizations when engaging with students from the high school sector. Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) focuses to foster sciences and technology education through student activities and contests MOET plans to achieve its goal of fostering and improving research and learning activities in science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects at HS through the following:
  • Encourage HS students to get involved in STEM research activities and apply relevant knowledge to resolve practical issues.
  • Encourage STEM teachers to research and apply new teaching and assessment methods to support student development in this area.
  • Encourage other educational institutions such as universities, research and development institutions, industries and individuals to support STEM activities at HS.
  • Provide opportunities for students and teachers to showcase and exchange their research through contests and exhibitions.
The National Foreign Languages 2020 project (2008-2020) and new regulations around compulsory and elective subjects for the Grade 12 graduation exam

The Vietnamese education system, from primary through high school, is strongly influenced and driven by the new direction of the National Foreign Languages 2020 project (2008-2020). The project’s aim is to improve the English ability of Vietnamese students at all levels from primary to tertiary.

To facilitate the implementation of the regulations, MOET issued an English qualification framework. It consists of six levels and requires students to be at level 3 (B1) when they graduate from high school. It also focuses on teaching mathematics and some science subjects in English.

High School teachers are required to submit an IELTS certificate of 6.5 or alternatively to attend an intensive six-month English course created by MOET.

New Grade 12 graduation exam and new university entry requirements (2014-2015)

In the academic year 2014-2015, Vietnamese high school students could enroll in up to four universities using their high school graduation results for four continuous intakes (August, September, October and November).

As a result, most students gained a place in a university or college but not necessarily in their preferred program. A second result was that most local universities were able to fill seats but did not get the top quality students that they were expecting.

Toward a More Student-Centered Career Guidance in Secondary Education in Vietnam

by Nguyen Thi Chau and Filip Lenaerts
The Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance (VVOB) is a non-profit organization that, by order of the Belgian and the Flemish Government, contributes to the improvement of the quality of education in developing countries. VVOB has been working in Vietnam since 1992. Its initial approach of sending hands-on experts in education and agriculture to local Universities and Colleges gradually transformed into a more results-based approach, focusing on institutional capacity development. Building on the experience of the 2008-2010 Education and Agricultural Extension Programs, VVOB launched a Career Guidance Program in 2011 to support the enhancement of Study and Career Guidance in secondary education in Vietnam. Since 2014, VVOB is specializing in education and is focusing on Early Education in Vietnam, complemented with a 2014-2015 extension of its work in Career Guidance. The Career Guidance Program targets teachers, school leaders and parents of secondary students. The operational partners are the Departments of Education and Training and Women’s Union in Nghe An and Quang Nam provinces, as well as the Department of Teachers and Educational Administrators of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and the Vietnam Women’s Union at the national level. Study and Career Guidance in secondary education in Vietnam follows two tracks:
  •  Career Orientation is provided through specific periods and extra-curricular activities; and
  •  vocational taster courses, called education for general professions, are delivered at secondary schools and Centers for Vocational Education and Career Orientation.
When VVOB launched its Career Guidance Program, a situation analysis showed that materials on Career Guidance were outdated, teachers were not trained on providing Career Guidance and parents, based on their own preferences, were deciding on career choices for their children. In this context, students’ interests and capacities were marginally considered. Following a review of current policies and guidelines, international and national experiences and a search for existing expertise in the country, VVOB supported the provincial partners in developing their own vision of Career Guidance. This Career Guidance vision provides a reference framework for the integration of program interventions and reference materials. With a strong expertise in supporting education for development, VVOB Vietnam focuses on capacity development of its partners to develop contextualized materials, support career guidance practice in secondary schools and support and enhance skills of provincial core group trainers in charge of training teachers, school leaders and women’s club facilitators. We have started from commonly used and validated Career Guidance theories and translated these into practices through easy-to-use instruments and tools. To date, six different Career Guidance resources and three supportive DVDs were developed for school leaders and secondary teachers. These materials are used by provincial partners to facilitate different modalities to guide students in their study of career choices in line with four main “career guidance paths” as guided by MOET. In addition to the training materials developed, an online portal for Career Guidance has been set up to provide information and support on study and career choices: www.emchonnghegi.edu.vn.Following almost three years of program implementation, approximately 28,000 secondary teachers, including 17,260 female teachers, have received some level of training in Career Guidance through the provincial Departments of Education and Training. The model of “Education and Life Clubs,” used by the provincial Women’s Union to deliver Career Guidance activities to parents, has been recognized by the national Women’s Union as a best practice. From 2013 onwards, Study and Career Guidance has been taken up by the national Women’s Union as an important subject for enhancing parenting skills of mothers and fathers. The National Program for 5 million mothers has added the study of career guidance activities of Education & Life Clubs to the list of regular activities for all provinces.
  • Building on the initial success of the 2011-2013 program, VVOB Vietnam has committed to support the partners in further improving Career Guidance in Vietnam in the next two years. The extension will focus on sustainability of earlier achieved results in three ways:
  •  by supporting in-depth institutionalization of technical knowledge built among partners and their core groups, including gender mainstreaming;
  •  by enlarging the reach of this student-centered, gender-sensitive Career Guidance approach to a nation-wide scope; and
  •  by documenting and sharing innovative practices in secondary schools.