Economics remains the “hottest” major and the most popular choice among university students.

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has kicked off the 2014 enrolment season, while students have begun registering for university entrance exams.

Observers have noted that excellent students tend to choose economics-related studies, because they can see better job opportunities in the finance & banking or trade sectors.

Meanwhile, military and police schools are [also] the choices of many students with good learning aptitude.

These tendencies could be seen at the 2014 Study Consultancy Day held a few days ago at the Hanoi University of Technology, which gathered 20,000 high school students.

Most of the questions raised at the event were about the military, police, economics and trade schools. The students also displayed their interest in high-quality training programs and joint training programs between Vietnamese and foreign universities.

Nguyen Thi Huong, from Nguyen Trai High School in Thai Binh province, said she has registered for the entrance exam to the Economics Faculty of the Hanoi University of Technology.

“I think I am good enough to pass the exam and I think I am dynamic enough to become a businesswoman,” she said.

Huong went on to say that most of her school friends who are high-achievers intend to follow economics majors, while less capable friends target the schools which do not require high exam results.

Nguyen Thi Oanh from Hoa Binh province said she would attend the entrance exam to the Hanoi Trade University, though she heard that a lot of economics bachelors remain unemployed.

“The national economy is experiencing gloomy days, but I do believe that it will be better soon. If so, there will be more great opportunities for economics bachelors like us,” she said.

“In general, working for securities and trade companies or banks would be better than becoming teachers or civil servants,” she added.

MOET has also predicted that economics will still be the most sought after major in 2014.

However, human resource experts have expressed worries about the high percentage of students registering to study economics.

They say Viet Nam is facing an oversupply of professionals with backgrounds in economics, which means that new economics graduates are very likely to become redundant in coming years.

Dr Pham Manh Ha from the Youth Academy of Viet Nam noted that students often choose their careers just by feeling. In many cases, they pursue economics studies just because their friends do the same.

“It is really a blunder to follow the crowd when choosing a major. One should think about this carefully after considering one’s capabilities and passion,” he said.

Nguyen Tung Lam, Headmaster of the Dinh Tien Hoang High School in Hanoi, also commented that students believe they will have better job opportunities if they follow economic studies.

“This is a regrettable misunderstanding,” Lam said.

A MOET’s report found that 19.9 percent of the 1.7 million students registered for the entrance exam to economics schools in 2013.

(Source: VietNamNet)