Universities unveil new enrollment plans

HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Many universities in HCM City have unveiled new enrollment plans for the next academic year.

The University of Science under the Vietnam National University - HCM City, for example, will be using four methods, including setting aside 30 percent of its enrollment quota for students who pass its general ability tests.

The university will officially stop enrollment for its college level in the next academic year.

The University of Economics and Law will begin to enroll for the first time foreign or Vietnamese students studying in an international high school training programme with instruction in English.  

Many universities will not require student candidates to take exams.

The member universities of the Vietnam National University - HCM City will give priority to students at 82 high schools for the gifted and students at the top 100 schools with the highest scores on national exams in the last three years.  

The Industrial University of HCM City will also give priority to students at high schools for the gifted, while the University of Finance-Marketing will enroll 25 percent of its quota directly under its own rules.

In 2020, the Ministry of Education and Training will allow all universities to set their own enrollment plans.  

Nguyen Huu Huy Nhut, Vice Rector of the University of Economics, told Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper that the university would create a contest of general ability that will cover knowledge in natural science, social science and English.

Students in the final year of high school and new graduates can participate in the test.

The Vietnam National University - HCM City has spent about 10 billion VND (430,782 USD) for the general ability tests since 2016, according to Dr Nguyen Hoi Nghia, its former vice president.

In 2003, the university’s staff and those at the Vietnam National University in Hanoi went to the US to learn about the SAT, a standardized college admissions test often used in the US.

The Vietnam National University - HCM City has completed a bank of tests set up by its lecturers and high school teachers.

The tests have been piloted at high schools Bui Thi Xuan, Gia Dinh, Nguyen Huu Huan and others.

After piloting, the university will add or reject substandard questions.

The general ability tests will help the university stabilise its enrollment and select students properly.

Many other universities in the city want to use the tests completed by the Vietnam National University - HCM City.

Hua Minh Tuan, Vice Rector of the University of Finance-Marketing, said the Ministry of Education and Training should set up a bank of test since many universities do not have the capacity to make their own tests.

The HCM City University of Technology and Education said that it would use the SAT for enrollment.

Tuan said the ministry should set up an independent examination centre where exam results can be examined for enrollment.-VNS/VNA