One of the reasons behind the high unemployment rate was the upgrading of higher and further education institutions on a mass scale recently.

As of June 2014, Vietnam has 433 universities (four- to five-year training) and junior colleges (three-year training), of which, 80% are state-owned institutions and the rest are non-state owned, according to a Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) report.

The Director General of Higher Education Department, MOET, said that 49 current universities were upgraded from junior colleges, and 59 current junior colleges were upgraded from secondary vocational schools (two-year training) between 2007 and 2013.

However, due to the lack of resources including finance, infrastructure and teaching staff, the expansion failed to meet the training quality. 

162,000 university graduates remained unemployed as of mid-2014, according to a Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs’ (MOLISA).

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British Council commentary:

The trend which a junior college is upgraded to a university aims at higher position and prestige for the institution in order to attract students.  Vietnamese students and parents are traditionally in favour of the academic route, believing that with a bachelor degree, a graduate can find a better job with higher salary.

Having realised the serious lack of qualified labour force while being excessive in an abundant number of degree holders, the government have taken actions to reform the technical and vocational education and training in the past few years and at the same time raise awareness about the need of vocational education among students and parents.