Vietnam IT industry is facing challenges in meeting the demand for skilled workers although a large number of universities across the country offer specialised IT programmes – reports VietNamNet Bridge.

Information from the HCM City Computer Association indicates that IT companies in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) alone would need about 100,000 international standards engineers by 2020. HCMC with half of the 100 universities, colleges and institutes providing IT training, can only supply 20,000 IT graduates a year, of which only 15 per cent meet the requirements of the employers.

The key layback lies in the lack of connection between educational institutions and businesses, keeping curriculum behind the employers’ demands not only for IT but also other cognitive skills. Therefore, IT graduates have to be retrained when they first join the world of work.

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Commentary

IT is one of the top four national priorities for development in the area of Science and Technology. The government has set a goal to turn Vietnam into an exporting country of IT manpower to the regional and international market.

Updating training curriculum towards international standards is one of the measures proposed, which opens the floor for external counterparts to explore collaboration opportunities with local institutions providing IT training.

As for student mobility to the UK, Computer Sciences/IT has been the top subject in the Science and Engineering area receiving Vietnamese students. This will continue to be the trend in the coming years.

For further enquiries, please contact Nga Bui, Education Services Manager at Nga.Bui@britishcouncil.org.vn.