15-mark university admission threshold is ‘safe’ for all schools Universities are pleased about the floor mark the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has announced, while many students now can sigh with relief that they have a good chance of university admission. Some educators, however, warned that the easy requirements will produce low-quality graduates.   MOET has decided that a 15 mark will be the floor mark for this year. This means that the students who get at least a 15 mark from three exam subjects at last July’s national exam will be eligible for applying for universities. Those, who have less than 15 cannot enter any university in Vietnam. This year’s floor mark set by MOET is higher than the previous year, when students just needed to get 13 to register to study at universities. Head of the training division of the Banking Academy Tran Manh Dung noted that MOET has made a right decision when setting up the higher floor mark this year, because this year’s exam results were better than the last year’s. Dung noted that the 15-mark threshold will create favorable conditions for schools to enroll students. In general, students prefer studying at state-owned schools. However, with the ‘reasonable requirements’, people-founded schools will also have students to enroll. Dung believes that the floor mark should not be lower than 15, because this will not allow schools to find capable students. Dung disagrees with the viewpoint that there is no need to set high requirements and that it would be better to control the quality of graduates. He believes that if schools enroll weak students, they will not be able to produce good graduates, no matter how good the material facilities and teaching staff. Thai Doan Thanh, head of the training division of the HCM City Food Industry University, noted that the 15-mark threshold is ‘safe’ for all schools. He said that a high percentage of students got a 15 score or more from three subjects, and there was no need to worry about enrollment numbers. As for the HCM City Food Industry University, the school plans to set the required marks at between 15 and 20, depending on the training major. Tran Dinh Ly from the HCM City Agriculture and Forestry University, noted that the MOET’s decision can satisfy everyone. “15 marks for 3 subjects is reasonable. A lower level would be inappropriate,” he noted. Top schools do not care much about the floor mark set by MOET, because they require very high scores from students which are far above the floor marks. However, less prestigious and people-founded schools are more concerned as they worry about enrollment. VNE