An awards ceremony to honor students who stood first in their graduation examination in universities and colleges this year was organized at the Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam University in Hanoi on August 28.
This is the tenth year that Hanoi has honored around 1,100 excellent and outstanding graduate students so far.
At the event, the Hanoi People’s Committee awarded 275 students who stood first in their graduation examination from all universities and colleges in Hanoi, besides also 107 valedictorians of this year and 24 students who stood first in their entrance examination for universities and colleges this year.
Among the excellent students to be awarded were Korean student Park Young Su from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and disabled student Tran Thi Thom from the University of Pedagogy in Hanoi. The Korean student is the first foreign student to be honored in 10 years.
There were five special awardees that came first in their entrance examination and also stood first in their graduation exam. They are Do Minh Thanh and Vu Hong Nhung of the University of Pedagogy; Nguyen Thi Thuy Dung from the University of Foreign Trade; Nguyen Linh Lan from the University of Foreign Language; and Pham To Uyen from the Institute of Posts and Telecommunications Technology.
Among the 107 excellent students present at the event, 40 are members of the communist party and will be meeting Deputy State President Nguyen Thi Doan on August 27 at the Presidential Palace.
Nguyen Thi Vinh, deputy head of the Department of Home Affairs in Hanoi, said students who come first in their graduation examination in universities and colleges of Hanoi are eligible for jobs at state-run companies and departments.
Special preference for excellent students has been imbibed in the law in all provinces in the country. Nonetheless, despite a special quota for jobs, only 10 percent of such students work in state-run companies, with most of them preferring to become lecturers in their universities or pursuing further studies in foreign countries.
In addition, some are invited to work in foreign-invested companies with attractive salaries. Only some students who are absorbed in research accept work in state-run companies.
Nguyen Duc Khanh, who came first in his graduation exam in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said he decided to choose the Institute of Energy where he can continue pursuing his passion for research; however, stipend in state-run institutes is so low that it cannot attract good students, he said.
Khanh added that many of his friends want to continue studies and research, but their family economic condition hinders them. Hence they have to give up their wish to pursue scientific research and accept employment in multi-national companies that offer high salaries with which they support their families.
