Topics for Speaking 1 – TO BE A MASTER OR A WORKER

1. There seems to be something unbalanced in our education, especially in the formation of young people in professional schools and in different colleges and universities. The number of students who intend to go to college is greater and greater, while the number of high school and secondary students whose intention is to attend a certain vocational or a professional school to become workers is smaller and smaller.
2. When a school year is over, in newspapers or in friendly talks among students or parents, only the news about the number of students who will take part in the College Entrance Examination to different universities in the whole country and about what schools attract the greatest number of candidates is mentioned. Rarely do we hear of the news about the professional schools or vocational schools. This shows that both students and parents show more interest in attending colleges or universities to become ‘masters’ than going to professional schools to ‘workers’, even skilled workers.
3. This is something entirely opposite to the formation system of a country because not any country in the world pays too much attention to the training of engineers, doctor, lawyers, or managers while employees and workers, the people who do most of the work at an office or in a factory, are not cared for. We all know that in a factory, with an engineer, there should be hundreds of workers and technicians to help him in his work. It is the same in a hospital. If a doctor is needed, there should be ten or twenty nurses and other employees to work with him.
4. However, the conception that being a master is always better than being a worker is still preferred by parents and students. The reason is that the average salary of a worker now is only about 6-7 or 8-9 hundred thousand VND a month. Of course, not many students are willing to sacrifice 2 or 3 years at a secondary professional school to get a job with such a low salary. Therefore, it is the salary to me that is a factor leading to the choice of a career of a student. Another reason may be that the door to College in Vietnam is so much open that almost in high-school students after graduation can easily enter different universities, from state or open universities to in-service universities.
5. As you know, in some countries, so few students are accepted by the universities that, as a result, admission is virtually a guaranty of a good job after graduation. Last but not least, being a worker, young people of today, boys and girls alike, often feel inferior to their social positions even though they, in reality, have a limit of mental power. Consequently, they are seeking what is beyond their reach.
6. In short, what would happen without farmers who do farming to produce rice and workers who directly create products for the society? A master or a worker plays an extremely important role, without which a society cannot exist. We hope that, in the future, when the industry of our country is higher and higher developed and the life of workers is better and better improved, more and more students will attend professional and vocational schools to become skilled workers and technicians.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. To you, is the conception that to be a master is always better than to be a worker right?
2. The number of college graduates who are still unemployed is high, is it right?
3. Why aren’t high-school students interested in professional schools and vocational schools?
4. Do you agree that there’s something unbalanced in the formation of young people in our country?
5. In your opinion, what should we do to encourage high-school students to attend professional schools?
6. Is going to college the only way for them to make progress in life?
7. Do you think that anyone can go to college and become master?
8. Are you of the opinion that the students graduated from professional schools get job quite easily now?
9. It is said that there is a shortage of highly-skilled workers in industrial zones, is it true?