Thứ Hai, 1/11/2021 | 09:22 GMT +7

Best Practice for Graduates’ Employments Survey in Higher Education Institutions amid Covid-19 Pandemic

From October 25 to October 29, the workshop "Best Practice for Graduates’ Employments Survey in Higher Education Institutions amid Covid-19 Pandemic" takes place in Hanoi. It is hosted by Thai Nguyen University (TNU). Due to the development of the Covid-19 pandemic, the conference is held online via Zoom platform.

Participants of the meeting include representatives from Political Education and Student Affairs Department, Ministry of Education and Training and AlmaLaurea. Participants from Europe include University of Barcelona (Spain) and National Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation ANECA (Spain).

Participants from Vietnam include: Hanoi University; Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology; National University of Arts Education; Vietnam National University of Agriculture; Thai Nguyen University; Hanoi University of Home Affairs; Hanoi Tourism College; Halong University; Academy of Journalism and Communication.

The workshop also welcomes new members namely Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Thu Dau Mot University, Ha Tay Community College, University of Phan Thiet, University of Danang, University of Nha Trang, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, and Vinh Industrial University.

Opening the workshop, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Tran Thanh Van – Vice President of Thai Nguyen University welcomed the member universities and emphasized the importance of graduates’ employment survey and how to use the survey results to improve the quality of education.

On the first working day, attendants listened to the presentation “The participation of the Ministry of Education and Training in disseminating the results of the MOTIVE project to Vietnamese higher education institutions” by Mr. Bui Tien Dung, senior staff of Political Education and Student Affairs Department, Ministry of Education and Training and Work Package 7.2 Quality Report by Prof. Daria Lucisnkaya.

Mrs. Dang Thi Phuong Thao, Hanoi University – National Coordinator presented a report on the development and expansion of the MOTIVE project to universities and colleges in Vietnam. Based on that, the workshop participants discussed the communication plan and follow-up activities to be taken within the scope of the project.

The workshop members agreed that until the next workshop, each member university will introduce and communicate to 2 other higher education institutions to participate in the MOTIVE project. At the same time, participants also need to engage more enterprises in the project.

Partner institutions also prepared and reported on the implementation of the 2020 graduates’ employment survey. Partner institutions have revised the questionnaire after receiving the sample from the Project and started to release the survey to their graduates in 2020.

It is expected that in November 2021, partner institutions will complete the survey by contacting the graduate students via phone, email and social networks. The Vietnam National University of Agriculture will be the focal point to gather data and prepare the report on the graduates’ employment status.

In 2021, the complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic caused difficulties to conduct graduates’ survey. In addition, some students changed contact information after graduation or do not keep in touch with their institutions. These factors have affected the percentage of students participating in the survey.

Participants of the workshop also discussed in groups about solutions and directions to improve the quality of graduates’ survey such as: organizing a survey with the strong leadership from the Board of Rectors to all subordinate units; communicating to graduates on various platforms and repeating the notice multiple times.

Partners need to build an effective communication system with graduates and combine the MOTIVE project questionnaire with the partners’ questionnaire to avoid students having to do multiple surveys at the same time. Maintaining an alumni association is also very important in ensuring graduates’ engagement.

The workshop has listened to graduates about seeking job opportunities, applying learned knowledge and skills in practice, and completing the employment survey. Students thought that the survey was an effective method to assess employment status. However, the questionnaire was quite long and detailed, therefore some students felt hesitated to participate.

In addition, the graduates also emphasized that soft skills, language skills, information technology, teamwork and scientific research skills… are very important for their current work. Students need to actively find part-time jobs, which are suitable to their majors to gain experience.

Nevertheless, students need more support from the higher education institutions to be able to participate actively and confidently in the labor market. Partner institutions need to strengthen activities to support and guide their students in the job seeking journey. In the beginning, students should not be hesitated to take the hard work.

The workshop “Best Practice for Graduates’ Employments Survey in Higher Education Institutions amid Covid-19 Pandemic” took place as planned and achieved the proposed goals.

In the coming time, the project will complete the graduates’ survey and focus on developing a network of enterprises, promoting connections with businesses on the platform http://motive.edu.vn to create suitable job opportunities for students.

MOTIVE project funded by Erasmus+ aims to research on Vietnamese graduates’ employment to give recommendations on policy innovation, strengthen capacities of Vietnamese higher education and reinforce the linkages between partner institutions and enterprises.

BÌNH LUẬN