Students attend admission at the HCM City's University of Economics and Finance. — VNA/VNS Photo Thu Hoài

HCM CITY — Many universities in HCM City have focused on re-building training programmes to create more interest among students.

It is believed to be one of the solutions to fix the situation after thousands of students dropped their studies at university because of unattractive courses.

Nguyễn Trung Nhân, head of the Training Office under the Industrial University of Hồ Chí Minh City, said the training programme, which has been updated this year, already arranged some specialised subjects along with core subjects with the hope of getting more interest from students.

Meanwhile, theoretical subjects are divided to be taught over a number of semesters, he said.

Nhân also said every year, the school conducts a survey of learners' opinions. Since the introduction of the new training programme, the school has received positive feedback from students and the number of students with poor scores has decreased, he said.

Especially, the percentage of students who were warned about sloppy studies has dropped from 9-10 per cent to 4 per cent now, he said.

Four per cent is a completely acceptable ratio, he added, reported Thanh Niên (Young People) online newspaper.

Among the school's many efforts, the change of the training programme has helped to achieve the results, he said.

Nguyễn Thanh Tùng, deputy head of the Training Office under Hồ Chí Minh City University of Culture, said after several surveys about the training programme, the school decided to change the method of building and operating it.

After the change in 2018, from the first semester, the school allowed students to learn both core subjects and specialised subjects, he said.

Thanks to the change, the number of students dropping out has gradually decreased year after year, he said.

Hoàng Văn Kiếm, chairman of the Science and Training Council of Sài Gòn International University, said that the new training programme of the school is designed so that students can access about 80 per cent of specialised subjects in the first two years instead of learning core subjects like in the past.

In the next two years, the students will learn other specialised subjects and core subjects, he said.

Through the approach, students are expected to gain more interest in learning. Besides, after the two-year period of learning specialised subjects, students are able to participate in the part-time labour market, he said.

Changing teaching methods

The universities also changed the teaching method with the hope to make their students more excited about studying.

Nhân from the Industrial University of Hồ Chí Minh City said students at the university are required to learn the introductory course and soft skills from the first year.

Previously, the introductory course only has theory, taught by the lecturers in the school, he said.

But now, depending on the major, students can have practical experience at enterprises, accounting for half of the time of the course, he said.

For the soft skills module, students will also experience more practice than before, he said.

Lê Trung Đạo, vice principal of the HCM City-based University of Finance - Marketing, said from the first year, students of the school learn specialised subjects and can register to practise at local businesses.

Trần Nam, a lecturer at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in HCM City, said that taking students out of the classroom is one of the positive activities in teaching at the university level.

After observing and experiencing, students were assigned to organise a discussion session to present the results. It will be a very useful addition to the abstract and strange theory, he said.

Trương Nguyễn Hồng Đoan, a student of Agriculture and Forestry University – HCM City, said before going to university, she had read some students’ forum pages and knew the list of “Top 10 scariest subjects at university”.

When she entered the university, she found that the scariest subjects are mainly core subjects with abstract definitions and students have to memorise them.

It makes students feel very bored, she said.

N.K.D, a student of HCMC University of Technology and Education, said he thinks the arrangement of core subjects in the first semester of university is quite boring.

From the first year, students need to have access to specialised subjects. Some core subjects should be shortened so that students could have more time to focus on vocational modules, she said. — VNS