Students upbeat but hazy about future

by Thanh Hieu

Many students are vague about their future career path and concentrate on gaining general academic knowledge while neglecting soft skills. — VNS Photo

HCM CITY — An overwhelming majority of Vietnamese students are optimistic about their future but have failed to map out a future plan for themselves, a recent survey has shown.

More than 80 per cent of students surveyed say they feel optimistic about the future but they lack the capacity to plan for their future, particularly in the areas of soft skills, according to the survey.

“This has greatly affected their ability to define targets, grasp chances and reach their potential,” the survey report said.

Soft skills included the ability to define targets, work in groups and concentrate efforts for long periods.

The survey, jointly conducted by HCM City Teacher Training University’s Institute for Educational Research and the US-based Wrigley Company, polled 2,000 senior high school and university students in HCM City, Ha Noi, Da Nang and Can Tho from June to November.

The survey results were announced at the seminar on Awareness and Attitude of Students toward Future Planning held last week in HCM City.

According to the survey, 80 per cent of students say they believed they could achieve their dreams and decide their future by themselves.

However, the research outcome found that many students were not prepared to live an independent life.

Many students want to study further (75.4 per cent) or study abroad (23.2 per cent) and focus only on academic progress.

The survey has revealed that Vietnamese students are still vague about their future direction and targets while studying at school.

Typically, they prepare for their future career with little awareness of job requirements, only concentrating on academic knowledge (hard skills) and neglecting soft skills.

More than 83 per cent of students say that their future plan is to do well at school while 91.6 per cent say they need to improve foreign language skills.

They do not show interest in participating in clubs or social activities in order to improve soft skills.

Earlier research on Wrigley Concentration Index conducted by Research International Company has shown that only 31 per cent of Vietnamese students fully concentrate in class, with the concentration index of Vietnamese students (28) is lower than the Asian average (29).

Lack of concentration will affect study results and confidence, according to the study.

Enhancing students’ concentration capacity is essential for their future orientation and planning, it concluded.

The research findings will lay the groundwork for Wrigley Company and its partners, including the Institute for Educational Research, HCM City Youth Union and schools, to host a series of comprehensive action programmes to help students with future orientation.

Dr Ho Thieu Hung, former director of HCM City Department of Education and Training, said, “Students need attention and help from society, and teaching staff should be retrained in instructional methodology as well.”

The education ministry should review the current curriculum and introduce optional, practical subjects that provide students with basic knowledge and life skills rather than only academic content, Hung said.

Nguyen Tung Lam, principal of the private Dinh Tien Hoang High School in Ha Noi, said that existing curricula had left students with almost no time to practise soft skills and that no programme was available to train students in such skills.

He suggested schools, business associations and society join forces to design programmes and activities for students.

Le Thi Thu Ha, vice principal of Da Nang-based Phan Chu Trinh senior high school, said professional research should be conducted and the expertise of consultants tapped so students’ parents could be helped.

The HCM City Youth Union said a student festival named Concentration for a Bright Future will take place at the Youth Cultural House on November 29-30.

It is expected to attract 10,000 high school students from HCM City and five neighbouring provinces (Binh Duong, Long An, Tien Giang, Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau).

The event, featuring talks with leading experts in psychology and education and successful individuals born in the 1980s, aims to help students enhance their concentration capacity and awareness of the important role of soft skills in their future. —