Today (August 2), Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry organized a workshop on " The role of universities in the development of education and science and technology in Ho Chi Minh City - Field of life sciences and environment". The workshop attracted representatives from many universities and high schools.

Speaking at the workshop, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Tat Toan, Rector of Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry, said that the workshop was held at a very special time, when the registration period for university admission in 2024 had just ended. "The reason I mentioned this event is because the results of the registration periods in recent years have also raised many concerns for me about career guidance and student orientation," Associate Professor Toan said.

To explain further, the President of Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry cited statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training on the admission results for the two years 2022 and 2023, when both the fields of environment and environmental protection as well as life sciences only reached a rate of less than 1% of the total number of successful candidates. This number is much lower than the top fields such as business and management (about 24%), computers and information technology (about 11%).

Associate Professor Toan said that universities training in the field of life sciences and the environment have made great efforts to promote enrollment. However, the above figures show that it seems that the younger generation, and perhaps even their parents, still do not really understand the importance and potential of the field of life sciences and the environment.

Meanwhile, according to Mr. Toan, the importance of these fields is increasingly being affirmed and applied in many aspects of life such as health care, agriculture, medicine, pharmaceutical industries and food science. "Therefore, the demand for human resources, especially high-quality human resources in the fields of biology, biotechnology, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, nature conservation, etc., will increase day by day", the Rector of Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry emphasized.

Also at the workshop, Dr. Tran Van Thinh, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Agronomy, Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry, shared interesting data. Specifically, in 2023, out of about 600,000 candidates admitted to university, 20% of candidates did not enroll. Of those who were admitted, after only one year, 5-7% had to re-register, meaning that many candidates chose the wrong major and the wrong school. This leaves many consequences for the students themselves and society.

But according to Dr. Thinh, career guidance work in recent times has revealed many shortcomings. "When asked why they study this major, the answer is often that the major is 'hot' in the market, has high job opportunities, high salaries... Obviously, these are all career choices based on emotions, other people's opinions, or choosing a career based on general trends," said Mr. Thinh.

According to Dr. Thinh, the role of career guidance for students in choosing the right career is extremely necessary. In particular, universities and high schools have the most influence on students' awareness of career guidance factors.

"However, in recent years, the entrance score for this major has been low. In addition to early career guidance for students, there should be more reasonable incentive policies for students in this major," said the Deputy Head of the Faculty of Agronomy, Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry.