Many universities are offering new subjects for study in the next academic year to meet human resources demand in different sectors. 

Students reading information on the 2012 university entrance exams at a consulting event recently organised in the southern province of Binh Phuoc

For instance, if a student wants to study nuclear engineering, she or he would have to pass university entrance exams in Group A, which comprises math, physics and chemistry. The HCM City University of Science will admit 50 students for its new nuclear engineering programme.

Dr. Nguyen Kim Quang, head of the university's Training Department, told the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that employment opportunities for students graduating from nuclear engineering would be huge because Vietnam plans to build several nuclear power plants in the future.

Graduates of nuclear engineering could also find jobs at hospitals because the subject is related to the operation of some appliances and equipment there, Quang said.

Students would also have opportunities to receive further education abroad, he said.

Meanwhile, the Hanoi University of Science has submitted to the Ministry of Education and Training a proposal for opening a new programme in nuclear power physics.

If approved, the school would recruit 50 students for the first course and offer scholarship for all admitted students, said Associate Prof. Dr. Bui Duy Cam, rector of the university.

The Academy of Journalism and Communication will also add two more fields of study in the year – social work and State management. It will admit 50 students for each programme.

The Electric Power University has said it will recruit a total of 100 students for two new programmes in e-business and power construction.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ho Thanh Phong, rector of the HCM City International University, said that the school planned to offer two more courses in pharmaceuticals and financial risk management.

The school would earmark VND9 billion ($428,000) to provide scholarships for students with high results in the entrance examination, Phong said.

The university entrance examinations are expected to begin in early July and take place during weekends to avoid traffic congestion in major cities.