Addressing a conference to review 15 years of implementing the education sector’s recruitment policy in Hanoi on January 20, Mr Khiem said, “Enrolment work is a key task for all localities.” 

He praised the sector’s efforts in establishing boarding schools and training cadres for far-flung regions during the past 15 years.

To create a legal framework for enrolment work, he asked the sector to submit a decree to the Government with the aim of building criteria for each region, developing human resources and providing preferential treatment for certain students.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), since 1990, nearly 20,600 ethnic students have been enrolled in local colleges and vocational schools. Of the total, 14,476 students have been admitted to centrally run colleges and universities, making up 92.6 percent of the set target.

The education sector has offered preferential treatment to students, including providing monthly scholarships worth VND160,000 each for good students and VND360,000 for excellent students. In addition, each student also receives VND360,000 worth of equipment during their university studies.

However, enrolment work has revealed weaknesses, including inconsistent planning and training programmes, lax management and poor results in training programmes.

At the conference, MoET said it has planned to increase student scholarships to a level equivalent to 80 percent of the minimum salary level, and the figure will be adjusted when the minimum salary changes. It will also develop a system of boarding schools, and increase the quality of semi-boarding schools to create resources for the enrolment work.