Ministry grants support package to students’ startup projects

Vietnamese students and their international peers exchange startup ideas at a workshop (Photo: SGGP)

According to the Ministry’s latest study, 66 percent of 750 students in higher education facilities don’t have conception of starting a company. Worse, just 0.016 percent of students take part in the national startup programs.

Accordingly, the Ministry has approved the package to aid students’ startup projects. Moreover, the education sector strives for the goal that all higher education institutions will embark on project to aid students’ startup plan by 2020.

Lecturer Huynh Cat Dung from Sport Pedagogy University in Ho Chi Minh City said that in the current context, it is unlikely that schools can achieve the goal without coherent strategies, good preparation and proper investment.

The lecturer gave the example of Taiwan (China) which rank the eight in the world in the quality and scale of startup program. To have such accomplishment, Taiwan (China) has established two central centers to organize startup programs and provide aid to students’ startup projects.

More than half of the centers’ operation cost comes from the state budget through relevant agencies.

Meantime, 35 incubation centers were set up in many universities in Thailand in 2011. Annually, the government of Thailand allocates 1.3 percent of the national budget to assist schools to expand research projects.

Looking back Vietnam’s reality, schools just deliver theory than scientific researches. Most universities do not have collaborative projects with businesses, neither do they possess any products successfully commercialized from scientific research results or launched into the market.

Within three year from 2016 to 2018, there have been merely 24 researches relating to students’ startup in the national electronic inventory.

Nevertheless, according to a statistic conducted in 2017, nearly 80 percent of students’ startup projects failed resulting from lack of orientation and behaviors and skills amongst graduates.

Superior consultant of the national startup program Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh said that schools should teach students leadership skills, plan-making skill, problem-solving skills, communication skills and inspiration skills.

Generally, schools should pay attention to improve students’ soft skills and real employment experiences which will be solid foundation for startup projects after graduation, Ms. Tuyet Minh said./.