Reading the times well and daring to break away from stereotypes and well-worn old ideas such as "you must get into university and study at university to succeed", many young people who achieved high scores in the recent 2024 National Upper Secondary School Graduation Examination, and could have been admitted to many of the country's top universities, have nevertheless decided to take a different path: choosing a vocational school.
Immediately after the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) announced the results of the 2024 National Upper Secondary School Graduation Examination, hundreds of candidates came to submit applications for admission based on their results at HHT (nearly 20% of them with total admission scores of 20 points or more for their subject combination).
Dương Hải Nam (from Tam Nong district, Phu Tho province), who scored 26.75 points (Group C, admission combination C20), turned down university admission and enrolled in Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineering (Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering). He is currently the top entrant of Cohort 15 (full-time college programme). He said: "I decided to study a practice-oriented college programme at Hanoi College of High Technology because of the low cost of study. The State supports 70% of the tuition fees for the programme I chose, which eases the financial burden on my parents, and after graduating I will be recruited by enterprises straight away..."
Similarly, Đậu Thị Như Quỳnh (Hoai Duc district, Ha Noi), who scored 25.75 points (Group A, admission combination A09) and 25.3 points (Group C, admission combination C19), had watched her older sister study at Hanoi College of High Technology and decided to choose Graphic Design (Faculty of Information Technology), officially becoming a new K15 student at the college. In her view: "In today's era of integration, enterprises no longer care so much about candidates' qualifications. Instead, they want to recruit people who can start work immediately, have proficient vocational skills and need as little retraining as possible..."
In addition, many other high-scoring candidates have joined the HHT family: Trần Đức Hùng (Cam Khe district, Phu Tho province) – 26 points (Group C, admission combination C19) and Nguyễn Thị Hồng (Tu Ky district, Hai Duong province) – 24.8 points, new students of Industrial Electronics (Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering); Nguyễn Xuân Doanh – 23 points (Group C, admission combination C20), a new student of Automotive Technology; and Nguyễn Quốc Huy – 23 points (Group C, admission combination C14), a new student of Metal Cutting (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering), among others.
"What can you do?" rather than "What qualifications do you have?"
"Easy employability" is one of the reasons why vocational training is increasingly being chosen by Generation Z. Recently, fewer and fewer of the college's graduates have been returning to request transcripts and certificates to transfer to university bridging programmes. This shows that, on completing college at HHT, they find jobs immediately, so they no longer need to transfer in the belief, as before, that "a university degree makes it easier to find a job". Enterprises have changed the way they recruit: they think "What can you do?" rather than "What qualifications do you have?".
Graduate from upper secondary school, study a practice-oriented college programme, choose HHT – skilled in your trade, high income.
If candidates and parents fully understand the advantages of vocational training, their perceptions and attitudes will change. First, vocational training takes less time. Second, learners quickly find work after graduation because the programmes are designed with practical training accounting for 70% of study time.
In particular, the college's generations of students are highly skilled, able to integrate into competitive multicultural environments, earn high incomes and are capable of creating their own jobs. High-quality graduates who are highly valued by enterprises and society are the decisive factor in affirming HHT's position and brand, and in building the confidence of students and parents.
To attract high-quality entrants, the college continues to award merit scholarships to candidates with high scores in the National Upper Secondary School Examination (assessed by subject combination). At the same time, the college applies a range of study-encouragement policies and scholarships to attract good and excellent students to enrol (college programmes trained to order for enterprises: students receive 100% tuition support; 17 of 42 trades receive 70% State support for vocational tuition fees; tuition exemptions and reductions in accordance with Government Decree 81/2021/ND-CP; entrance merit scholarships for students, etc.).
Vocational education is a level of the national education system that trains human resources directly for production, business and services. This is a truly unique opportunity that learners should seize in order to secure employment, right from the turning point of choosing a trade.
The counselling system of Hanoi College of High Technology (HHT) will provide full information about each level and field of study at the college to help students choose, and help them understand that "a higher level is not necessarily better or more successful. Success must come from the choice that best suits each person's interests, abilities, family circumstances and goals. What matters is the right fit..."
The college continues to enrol students in programmes across 42 trades: REGISTER YOUR APPLICATION ONLINE