High schools step up career counseling

Many high schools have stepped up their career orientation efforts to help their students choose the right major before enrolling in colleges.

Nguyen Binh Khiem High School in central Dak Lak Province organizes many annual career sessions in which counselors and students discuss majors like education, medicine, national defense, military, public security, and others, said Nguyen Thi Thuong, a career orientation teacher at the school.

The school also invites outstanding figures in those fields to come and talk with its students about their career opportunities, challenges, and requirements to give them an overall picture of a particular career.

It even has a session on gender equity to help students understand gender-specific strengths and weaknesses and how these may influence their career choice.

“There are equal job opportunities between the genders. Knowing clearly about gender equality will help a student a lot in weighing various career paths before making the final decision,” Thuong remarked.

Le Quy Don, another high school in central Quang Nam Province, often begins its career orientation as early as in grade 10, according to Phan Thanh Nhuan, vice principal of the school.

The orientation activities will continue through the next three years of formal education at the school, Nhuan said.

The school takes this very seriously since a career choice is a breakthrough in a student’s life, he insisted.

Each year the school sends its career-guidance teachers to training courses given by the local education board to ensure its counseling service remains updated, he said, adding the school has always tried its best to lay the smoothest career path for the students.

In the meantime, the Ninh Phuoc High School in central Ninh Thuan Province believes it would be most helpful for the students if the school can provide career guidance based on their interest, capability, financial conditions, and job prospects after graduation.

The school’s pass rate in the university entrance exams has risen to around 30-35 percent in recent years thanks to its career counseling activities, Tran Ngoc Hung, the vice principal, said.

Other high schools in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Quang Ngai, Tay Ninh, and others even invite their alumni to take part in their career orientation session to help provide advice for their juniors.