Factors affecting the training quality and satisfaction of graduates among the stated owned vocational schools in hanoi city

Trang 1 FACTORS AFFECTING THE TRAINING QUALITY AND SATISFACTION OF GRADUATES AMONG THE STATED-OWNED VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS IN HANOI CITY A DISSERTATION PAPER Presented to School of Graduate

Introduction

Introduction

It is said that training and education always play very important roles in the development of any country in the world Training helps to bring new skills, fair attitudes and necessary knowledge to the learners or master the skills for specific purposes Training, unlike education, tends to concentrate on the practices, not in theory

The supply of laborers who are trained with skills at vocational schools is still in the shortage As consequence, many firms operating at industrial zones can not find the employees They sometimes have to recruit young people and then train these employees This is very expensive and very time-consuming

The quality of education and training is always considered an essential factor for crafting smart growth - training the staff required for research and development as well as innovation and providing a highly effective and efficient labor force It is also a tool for sustainable growth to off- set the influence of ageing on the labor force by rising employment, reducing skills mismatches and providing the right skills to drive growth in dynamic economic sectors The quality of education and training is also said to be vital to achieve fine growth by breaking the transmission of poverty from one generation to the next through better access to the labor market

According to the the Labor Demand Forecasting and Market Information Center, in 2019-

2025 period, the city will need some 200,000 employees each year, of whom the workers finishing vocational school (2-year training) will account for about 28 percent, whereas the employees with higher education levels will account for 18 percent

To meet the demand of increasing quality of learners for industrialization, training centers need to improve the teaching facilities and other supportive functional areas such as libraries and sports halls Some training programs also need to be changed to be suitable with the changing need of the society (Speech by Tran Van Nhung - Deputy Minister of Training and Education of Vietnam)

There are millions of young people in Vietnam who need to be trained for skills at and vocational schools and centers Most of them are now farmers with little knowledge and skills so they can not create high value for the society If these men have the opportunities to be trained at schools, they will be the potential laborers for future demand of firms or their own business

In Hanoi city – the capital of Vietnam, there are now ten state-owned vocational schools which are under the control of the People’s committee These vocational schools are partially supported by the government and supposed to provide basic job-related skills to the young who do not go to universities or colleges These schools have long histories and have provided training services to tens of thousands of learners, which has been believed to contribute greatly to the development of Hanoi city and the nation as well

The ten stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city share lots of similarities in terms of physical facilities, management, missions, visions and partially financial supports from the people’ committee of Hanoi city The full-time teachers are paid by the budget of Hanoi city while part-time ones are paid with the tuition fees of the students

In the past old days, during the centrally-planned economy, the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city were all financially funded by the city and the graduates were employed by the state-owned enterprises Therefore, these schools did not have to worry about the finance for the operation; the number of students were decided by the city; the facilities were provided; and the graduates did not worry about finding the jobs

Since the so-called economic renovation, graduates of the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city have had to find their jobs at profit-oriented businesses so they have to choose the majors which are in the need of the society so that they can find jobs well

It has been said that the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city do not have flexible curriculums and they focus more on theories than practices There are still some topics that are not necessary for students studying at vocational schools The problems need to be fixed soon because the graduates have to find their jobs in the market economy and the employers want them to do the tasks assigned well rather than theoretical things or unrelated topics taught at vocational schools as they have provided before

In the past, the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city faced no difficulties enrolling students from Hanoi city and surrounding districts for many reasons; the tuitions are free or partially free; the graduates could find jobs in state-owned enterprises; there were not competitions from newly founded private vocational schools

However, these ten state-owned vocational schools have been facing unprecedented issues recently The number of applicants has dropped sharply over the last few years There is an average drop of 10 percent of the applicants among these schools Fewer and fewer teenagers have entered the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city This is very challenging for the existence of these schools

The stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city also have fierce competition with private training centers especially in the suburban districts There have been hundreds of private vocational schools and job centers since 2000s in Hanoi city These vocational schools are profit-oriented and they have invested much money on the teaching facilities and well as teaching resources Recent reports indicate some 5 percent of students quitting their studies at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city annually These students may be dissatisfied with the training quality at these vocational schools or they can switch to other training centers for better training

Moreover, there are many complaints from the employers that the people who graduated from these schools seem not to meet the requirements of the tasks during their first days at work This can be due to the inflexible curricula, obsolete teaching amenities and old teaching methods which concentrate more on theories rather than practices

Objectives of the Study

The study was conducted to identify the factors affecting the training quality and satisfaction of graduates among the vocational schools in Hanoi city Based on the results of the study, the author proposed recommendations to enhance the training quality and satisfaction of the students at these schools

In order to attain the main objective of the research, the specific objectives were:

1 To determine the demographic profile of the respondents of the study in terms of:

2 To identify the factors affecting the training quality among the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

3 To determine the impact of the factors on training quality

4 To assess the satisfaction of the graduates with the training quality among the stated- owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

5 To determine the difference between the respondents’ satisfaction when they are grouped according to profile

6 To propose recommendations and solutions to improve the training quality among the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city.

Theoretical Framework

Some theories and ideas related to service quality in general and training quality in particular are synthesized in this study to support the key terms, variables and their relationships

It is difficult to measure service quality due to its unique characteristics: Intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability and perishability (Bateson, 1995) Service quality is linked to the concepts of perceptions and expectations (Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988; Lewis and Mitchell,

1990) Customers’ perceptions of service quality result from a comparison of their before service expectations with their actual service experience The service is considered excellent if perceptions exceed expectations; it is regarded as good or adequate if it only equals the expectations; the service is classed as bad, poor or deficient if it does not meet them (Swati Bhargava et al., 2013)

Based on this view, Parasuraman et al developed a scale to measure service quality, most commonly called SERVQUAL This scale operates service quality by calculating the difference between expectations and perceptions, evaluating both factors in relation to 22 items representing five service quality dimensions known as 'usefulness' image', 'reliability',

'responsiveness', 'assurance' and 'empathy' (C.N Krishna Naik et al., 2010)

An initial study by Parasuraman (1985) showed that the factors affecting service quality include: (1) tangible factors, (2) reliability, (3) responsiveness, (4) approach, (5) credibility, (6) safety,

(7) competence, (8) politeness, (9) understanding of customers, (10) communication Then, these factors were combined and reduced into five well-known elements: (1) Tangible elements: the external expression of facilities, equipment and vehicles; (2) reliability: the ability to perform services reliably and accurately; (3) responsiveness: willing to help customers and provide timely service; (4) guarantee: professional knowledge and elegance of staff, ability to make customers trust; and (5) empathy: showing thoughtfulness and concern for each individual customer

Source: Adapted from Bhargava et al (2013)

Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel and written materials

Reliability Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately Responsiveness Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service

Employees’ knowledge and courtesy and their ability to inspire trust and confidence

Caring, easy access, good /communication, customer understanding and individualized attention given to customers

Service quality is the factor that has the greatest influence on customer satisfaction

(Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Ahmad and Kamal, 2002) If service providers provide customers with quality products that satisfy their needs, they can make customers happy Regarding the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality, Oliver (1993) first proposed that service quality was an antecedent of customer satisfaction regardless of whether these constructs were cumulative or transaction-specific

Some researchers have found empirical support for this view (Anderson & Sullivan, 1993; Fornell et al., 1996); where customer satisfaction was the result of service quality With regards to customer satisfaction and service quality, researchers have been more precise about the meanings and measurements of satisfaction and service quality Satisfaction and service quality have certain things in common, but satisfaction is generally a broader concept, while service quality focuses specifically on aspects of service (Wilson et al , 2008, page 78) Although it is said that other factors such as price and product quality can influence customer satisfaction, perceived service quality is a component of customer satisfaction (Zeithaml) et al., 2006, pp 106-107) This theory is consistent with the ideas of Wilson et al (2008) and was confirmed by the definition of customer satisfaction presented by other researchers That is also the reason why many authors of empirical studies have used variable models from quality measurement models to measure customer satisfaction

Although service quality and satisfaction are related (Cronin & Taylor, 1992; Spreng & MacKoy, 1996), there are few studies investigating the explanatory level of service quality factors service on satisfaction, especially for specific services (Lassar et al ., 2000) Zeithaml and Bitner (2000) have showed that customer satisfaction is influenced by many factors such as product/service quality, price, situation and personal factors

Source: Adapted from N Suki, Norbayah Mohd Suk (2013)

Conceptual Framework

In order to enable better understanding, the study made use of the following conceptual framework

The first frame, which is the antecedent variables, indicate the demographic profile of the respondents with regard to their gender, age, ethnicity, residence and learning status

The second frame, which includes the independent variables, introduce the factors which are assumed to have impact on the training quality among the stated -owned vocational schools in Hanoi city; these factors include tangibles, teachers, curricula, supports to students, administration, tuition payment and social activities

The third frame, which is dependent variable, shows how the training quality is affected by the factors as indicated in the second frame

The fourth frame indicates the graduates’ personal characteristics which are used as independent variables (dummy ones) to determine if there is significant difference between the satisfaction of the graduate with the training quality and their profile

The fifth frame shows dependent variable which is the graduates’ satisfaction with the training quality

Factors influencing the training quality

Figure 1.1: Factor Affecting the Training Quality and Satisfaction of Graduates among the Vocational Schools in Hanoi city

The Operational Definitions

In order to help readers to understand the study better, some basic terminologies in this study were conceptually and operationally defined

- Age refers to the period of a student, measured by years from birth In this study, age is used as dummy variable and coded: 0 = below 20 years old; 1 = 20 years old and above

- Ethnicity refers to whether a student belongs to Kinh group or ethnic minority In this study, ethnicity is used as dummy variable and coded: 0 = Kinh group; 1 = ethnic minority

- Gender refers to whether the respondents is a male or a female student In this study, gender is used as dummy variable and coded: 0 = male; 1 = female

- Learning status refers to whether the respondent is still studying at the vocational schools (the second year) in Hanoi city or he/ she graduated

- Residence refers to whether the respondents live in Hanoi city or he/ she come from neighboring areas – other provinces or cities In this study, residence is used as dummy variable and coded: 0 = in Hanoi city; 1 = in surrounding area

- Training quality refers to the training services which are categorized into various factors such as tangibles, teacher qualification, curricula or teaching programs, administration, tuition fees, student supports…among the vocational schools in Hanoi city

- Tangibles refer to the physical amenities used for teaching and learning among the vocational schools in Hanoi city In this study Tangibles consists of assets used for training services such as the buildings, classrooms, teaching instruments…

- Teachers refer to teaching staffs who work for the vocational schools in Hanoi city In this study, teachers is a factor consisting of different items such as the number of full-time teachers, the teachers’ friendliness, their grading method …

- Curricula refer to the programs and courses provided to the students at the vocational schools in Hanoi city In this study, curricula consist of compulsory topics, selective subjects, the internships for the students, the suitability between theories and practices…

- Administration refers to the office services provided to the students among the vocational schools in Hanoi city In this study, administration means the procedure of administration work, the attitude of staff toward the students, the effectivity of this work…

- Supports to students refer to amenities which can be used by the students for relax or anything beside learning purposes The dormitories, canteens, sports halls are evidences of supports to students at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

- Tuition payment refers to the charges for learning and any pay paid by the students to the vocational schools in Hanoi city It can also include the way of payments or any reduction or scholarships paid to excellent students at these vocational schools

- Vocational schools in Hanoi city refer to the ten stated-owned vocational schools located in Hanoi city and under the control of the People’s committee of Hanoi city

- Satisfaction refers to the graduates’ experiences with the training quality provided among the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city, which is rated from 1 – Very dissatisfied to 5 – Very satisfied

- Graduates are those who used to be the students at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city but these students graduated in 2020 already These students were contacted through emails and Google forms to get their points of factors affecting the training quality and their satisfaction with the training quality they experienced while studying

- Social activities refers to the work done by the students outside the campuses such as charity activities, field trips, volunteer work…

Significance of the Study

Although there have been many studies on factors affecting training quality or satisfaction with training services at universities, colleges and vocational schools in the world, there has not been an elaborate research combining two sections which, on one hand, identify the factors affecting the training quality and, on the other hand, assessing the satisfaction of the students with the training quality vocational schools in Vietnam

The study was conducted with the aim to determine the factors affecting the training quality at the vocational schools in Hanoi city The study also assessed the satisfaction of the graduates with the training services provided at these vocational schools Based on the output of the study, the study would propose solutions and recommendations to improve the training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city The significance of the study can be seen as the following:

To the managers of stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city, the study helps them to identify the impacts of the factors affecting the training quality The factors which have higher impacts should be paid more attention to so that the training quality would be increasingly improved

To the students, the study helps to improve the training services provided at the vocational schools in Hanoi city

To the vocational schools in Hanoi city, the study may help to enhance the training quality which in turn attracts more applicants in the time to come

To the researcher who has served as the rector at one of these schools, the study enhances his knowledge and improve his management

To the labor market, the study may help to improve the skills and knowledge of laborers after their graduation

To other researchers, this study may be used as reference documentation for similar and further studies.

Scope and limitations of the Study

Content scope: The study concentrated on determining the factors affecting the training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city It also evaluated the factors affecting the satisfaction of the graduates with the training quality provided at these schools

The antecedent variables consisted of gender, age, ethnicity, residence and learning status The independent variables include tangibles, teachers, curricula, supports to students, administration, tuition payment and social activities The dependent variables are the training quality and the satisfaction of the graduates with the training quality among the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

Space scope: The study was conducted at ten state-owned vocational schools located in

Time scope: The study was conducted during 2020-2021 The primary data was collected during the second quarter of 2021

Sample size of the respondents: There were 400 students (200 current students and 200 former students) serving as the respondents of the study The number of the respondents is determined by using Slovin’s formula Those respondents were systematically chosen The ten

(10) stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city have similar numbers of students so forty

(40) students – 20 second-year students and 20 graduates were selected from each vocational school in Hanoi city

Tools of data collection: Survey structured questionnaires were used to gather the primary data for the study These questionnaires were prepared in both Vietnamese and English to collect the points of views of the respondents

Statistical tools: The study made use of some statistical treatments such as frequency, means, F-tests, Cronbach Alpha tests, EFA and multiple regression tests

The study focused on only the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city consisting of 10 vocational schools Therefore, it could not cover all of the vocational schools in Hanoi city or nationwide

The study concentrated on seven affecting the training quality and satisfaction of the graduates There could be some more factors affecting the training quality which were not mentioned in this study

The study did not make comparisons among the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city so as to see the differences between these schools

Due to Covid pandemic, the interviews were done via email, which could be inconvenient and time-consuming Moreover, the interviews were conducted online so unstructured questionnaires or deep interviews could not be implemented.

Review of Literature and Related Study

Related Literature

The definitions of the word “quality” are quite similar Merriam Webster defines it as

"degree of excellence" or "excellence in kind", while Oxford chooses “The standard of a thing being measured against other things of its kind; level the excellence of something When talking about quality when delivering a product or service, however, we have to go a little deeper into how we define the term Condition provide a quality product or service, “fit for purpose” is a useful criterion But perhaps a better definition is still quality as "customer satisfaction and loyalty" because in the end, customer satisfaction and loyalty creates measure of success for any organization (Juran, 2009)

Up to now, service is a concept without a unified definition that is widely used globally Intangibility and elusiveness as well as the diversity and complexity of service types make it difficult to come up with a unified definition of it Moreover, in each different country, with the awareness and level of economic development of that country, the concept of service will be understood in a different way However, researchers and scholars around the world still have certain similarities on some points when trying to distinguish between normal goods and services: If the production of goods creates tangible products have clear physical, chemical and mechanical properties, have specific technical standards to determine product quality, so can be produced according to standardization, but not in service products exists in a physical, invisible form Therefore, determining service quality directly by quantified specifications seems impossible

According to Kotler & Armstrong (1986) “a service is an activity or benefit that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything.”

According to Fitzsimmons (2012) “a service is an intangible and non-storable activity, made for the customer, and the customer is also the creator of the product.”

According to Zeithaml & Bitner (2015) "services are behaviors, ways and processes of performing a certain job for the purpose of creating use value to satisfy the needs and expectations of customers"

From the above definitions, we can conclude that a service is a transaction in which immaterial goods are transferred from a seller to a buyer The service exists only while the provider is delivering it and the customer is using it There is no transfer of ownership when a company provides a service to a customer In addition, the service also cannot transport or store Though the term “quality” is widely used by practitioners and scholars, there is no generally agreed upon definition of it, as different definitions of quality are appropriate in different contexts Garvin, 2004; Reeves and Bednar, 2004; Seawright and Young, 2016; Russell and Miles, 1998; Beaumont and Sohal, 1999; Sebastianelli and Tamimi, 2002; Ojasalo, 2006)

Indeed, quality has been defined as excellence (Tuchman, 1980), value (Feigenbaum, 1951), conformance to specifications (Shewhart, 1931; Levitt, 1972), conformance to requirements (Crosby, 1979), fitness for use (Juran, 2009); 1988), desirable product attributes (Leffler, 2012), loss avoidance (Taguchi, 1987) and meeting customer expectations (Ryall and Kruithof, 2001)

A widely accepted definition of quality does not exist for a variety of reasons For example, broad definitions (e.g meet expectations, excellence) are difficult to work with Although narrow definitions (e.g conformance to specifications, loss avoidance) are not comprehensive enough to understand the richness and complexity of the concept (Reeves and Bednar, 2015)

Garvin (1984) described five approaches to defining quality: the transcendental approach; product-based approach; production-based approach; value-based approach; and user-based approach These approaches have been adapted, refined, and extended throughout the literature to determine quality (Forker, 1991; Reeves and Bednar, 1994; Seawright and Young, 1996; Russell and Miles, 1998; Fynes et al Voss, 2001; Sebastianelli and Tamimi, 2002; Sousa and Voss 2002; Ojasalo, 2006; and Zu et al., 2008) The transcendental approach to quality as excellence (Tuchman, 1980:380) is rooted in philosophy and borrow heavily from Plato's discussion of beauty According to this approach, quality is synonymous with innate excellence (Seawright and Young, 1996) This definition of quality is invalid and contains figurative language according to the criteria of Routio (2009), as it is questionable who defines the standard of excellence and who determines the level of excellence achieved (Reeves and Bendar, 1995) Furthermore, for researchers, a definition of quality based on excellence makes it difficult, if not impossible, to measure quality in the empirical field (Garvin, 1984), meaning that it does not reliability criteria because it is difficult to measure consistently quality

Another definition of measurable quality (reliability according to Routio's criteria in 2009) was proposed by Shewhart (1931) and Levitt (2012), Garvin (1984) described it as an manufacturing, where quality is defined as conformance to specification Quality of conformance reflects the extent to which a product meets certain design standards Deviations from the design specification lead to poorer quality and thus increased costs due to rework, scrap or damaged products (Reeves and Bednar, 1995) However, customers may be unaware or uninterested in how the product conforms to some internal specifications that they do not require (Oliver, 1981) Furthermore, this definition does not address service-specific characteristics that require high levels of human contact (Reeves and Bednar, 1995; Sebastianelli and Tamimi,

2012) As a result, the production approach that defines quality does not meet the validity criteria (definition does not fit the concept, definition is incomplete), in particular, it is an incomplete definition (invalid) quality adjustment for the hotel industry includes both goods and services, where goods reflect tangible aspects such as lobbies or guest rooms and services related to guest interactions with hotel staff or facilities (Barrows) and Powers, 2009)

Shewhart (1931) is credited with being the first to describe both the subjective and objective aspects of quality However, the same notion is echoed by Garvin (1984) and Juran

(1989) In Garvin's (1984) work on "product quality", he proposed five approaches to determine the multidimensional structure of quality According to the definitions of Garvin's (1984), it is possible to distinguish two different and dominant assessment views; Quality is defined as being guided by a subjective or objective assessment

In summary, according to the criteria of Routio (2009), for any definition of quality to be valid, it must include the meaning of conformance to internal specifications (Shewhart, 1931) as specified by the customer predefined customers and requirements (Crosby, 1979), and respond to the constantly changing requirements (Bowie and Buttle, 2004) of both institutional customers and stakeholders (Hoyle, 2007) Furthermore, if anyone wants to measure it in any context (manufacturing and service industries) the results should always be the same (Sebastianelli and Tamimi, 2002); in other words, it must be reliable according to Routio's (2009) criteria

* Theories and issues related to service quality

The term service quality is a combination of two different words; "Service" and "quality" Service means “any activity or benefit that one party may offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in ownership of anything” Quality has been recognized as a strategic tool to achieve better business and operational efficiency

Service quality means the service provider's ability to effectively satisfy customers through which the service provider can better conduct business In the service sector, ‘quality’ is an important factor for the success of a business That's because of its positive association with profits, increased market share, and customer satisfaction Several previous studies and authors have shown that the concept of quality in services is different from the popular concept in the field of goods The reasons for such processing are inherent characteristics of the service such as intangibility, inseparability from the provider, heterogeneity, etc Therefore, there is a separate framework for measuring and implementing quality

The term 'Quality of Service' is more difficult to define and evaluate Number of authors have tried to define it and give definitions from different points of view Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong defined the term 'service quality' as it is a service company's ability to engage with its customers That is, in their view, customer retention is the best measure of service quality; Christian Gronroos suggests that service quality perceived by customers has two dimensions - the technical or outcome dimension and the functional dimension of the process related dimension; A Parasuraman, Valarie A.Zeitham1 and L Berry have defined service quality as

"the provision of excellent or superior service relative to customer expectations."

Parasuraman et al (1985) introduce 10 aspects of service quality including reliability; responsiveness; assurance; access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security; understanding customer; and tangibles Deriving from these ten aspects the authors concise into five core dimensions of service quality (1985, 1988):

- Reliability: Ability to perform committed services accurately

- Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers and provide services promptly

- Assurance: Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence

- Empathy: Caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers

- Tangibility: Physical facilities, and appearance of personnel

* Theories and issues related to training quality

Related Studies

Allan Wilson (2010) “when basic formal education is over then the moment of concern” The confusion in choosing a career causes a lot of stress in the minds of parents and young people Those who have clear goals for academic achievement and the means to know it will go on to further education and formal training Those who want a career in time and start earning good will choose a career-oriented vocational training program There are many economic groups that choose to be trained in skills that provide a stable income and some economic securities such as the middle class, the disabled, the socially disadvantaged and the gifted high tech people who want to excel in that field A vocational training center provides opportunities for these sections of people Most educated young people choose to earn money early and settle down early

Sathya Narayana (2010) “we have all heard the word 'education' and in the world of employment, recruitment and employment, another word that catches the eye is 'vocational education and training “Its main purpose is to develop skills among existing manpower to meet the requirements of unorganized sectors In office duties, vocational training may include typist, stenography, librarian while practical, manual and mechanical jobs include architectural draftsman, engineering related to electrical work, electronic and plumbing operations etc

Education is certainly important for everyone There are as many basic concepts that one must learn to live as a human being just as there are subjects one chooses according to their interests in order to make a living Those who want to work in an office can choose finance and accounting, computer management, animation while others can choose mechanical jobs, electrical engineering operations and aeronautics

The job cannot be completed by someone who has completed a degree in an office environment Some jobs like plumbing and construction require individuals to have specific training in specific areas in order for the job to be done best There are many organizations that provide training to learners worldwide Even people who are working can take this course and choose a time convenient for them Some courses do not require a tutor, and students who choose those courses can take them online For courses that require practical training, they are offered on weekends when study materials are made available online or can be downloaded from websites

John Baxter (2010) career development refers to the skills and knowledge acquired for both professional and personal development Development includes all types of facilitated learning, whether it is a school or conference degree or informal learning practice in real-life situations In today's context, development can include all modes of vocational education

Career development can also take the form of pre-service or on-site development programs These programs can be arranged in the form of seminars, formal or informal, groups or individuals On-site development can seek to develop or enhance skills of many natures, whether leadership skills or task skills These training programs can range from a single seminar to an entire semester or several semesters of the training program These programs often use well-known experts to lead the training

Britta Van Erckelens of GIZ Vietnam said that cooperation with the business sector is necessary to develop a demand-oriented and coherent system of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) to provide skilled workforce for the green economy in the Industry 4.0 era “Only the business sector can determine the knowledge, skills and competencies required and certify the quality of the training.” She said important aspects and concepts related to cooperation with the business sector in TVET have entered the legal framework since the new TVET law was promulgated at the end of 2014 These aspects need to be addressed more clearly defined and in sync with the provisions of the Labor Code, she said

Ahmad (2014) conducted a paper to discuss service quality and student satisfaction In the study, he carried out exploratory research to find out many factors affecting education quality The author adopted Parasuraman model with some more newly-added factors including lecturers, tuition fees, education location, registration, and curriculum structure

Vu Thuy Nga (2015) conducted a study assessing the satisfaction of the students with the education quality at Tuyen Quang Vocational school In the study, the author made use of some factors such as teachers, learning facilities, curricula, supporting facilities and libraries However, the study did not show how these factors were determined through exploratory factor analysis Another study conducted by Nguyen Hoan (2018) at Hai Duong University in Hai Duong province There were 240 students serving as the respondents of the study These students are current students selected from the two faculties: economics and technical Hai Duong University has more female than male students The majority of them come from other provinces The number of students majored in economics outnumbers those in technical

Respondents were unsatisfied with all of the six factors including vision and missions, lecturers, supports to students, curriculum, physical facilities and administration In regarding to vision and missions, the students assessed that the vision and missions were not clearly stated Furthermore, new students were not oriented with the university’s vision and mission The only satisfactory fact is that the vision and missions of the university were often changed

Hai Duong University failed to provide service performance in terms of curriculum The courses designed by Hai Duong University were assessed as not suitably scheduled, not well designed between theory and practice, and the knowledge and skills that the students received were not enough, even though the students were satisfied with the compulsory and selective subjects According to Nguyen Dinh Long (2009), The quality of training is a special concern of training institutions and both education and training sectors It can be said that it is the survival problem of the training institutions The quality of training depends on many factors: teaching and learning conditions, learners, teachers, and requires efforts from many sides Specifically, it can be stated as follows:

* On the school side: The training institutions need to provide fine education program; subject curriculum content; textbooks, lectures, references; practical experiment facility; teaching and learning organization; and create a learning environment,

* On the teacher's side: The teaching staff needs to have fine teaching methods; suitable communication skills; inspire, create excitement and inspire, motivate, encourage; help to build learning methods and work organization; and help access to scientific research,

* On the learner side: The learners must have correct awareness of learning (learn to have a job to live, learn to know to live with life, learn to be human), have energy and determination; have ambitions, dreams; love the job

Nguyen Dinh Luan (2018) stated that to solve the quality problem in higher education today is not easy, it touches both the system and the training process However, it does not mean that there is no solution for it He thinks there are 3 important factors that are decisive: people, infrastructure, equipment for training and international integration capacity

Methodology

Research Design

This study aimed to deal with two relatively separate tasks: (1) identify the factors influencing the training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city and (2) determine the satisfaction of the graduates with training quality provided at these schools, i.e, the study first made use of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to identify the factors which have influences on the training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city; the study then assessed the satisfaction of the respondents who are the graduates with the training quality

Figure 2 describes the process and context of this study Based on the existing problems with training quality provided by ten vocational schools in Hanoi city recently and literature survey, the author finds out research gaps and crafts the ideas to fulfill these gaps

After thorough literature review and concept definitions, objectives of the study and the questionnaires were formed To validate the variables, pilot tests were conducted to revise the official questionnaires

The first survey questionnaire was used to gather information and data for identifying the factors which influence the training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city Although the first questionnaire adopted some factors and variables which have been used in previous studies, it contains come new variables designed by the researcher In order to prepare this questionnaire, the researcher who has served as the rector or principal of one of these vocational schools conducted some deep interviews with his experienced colleagues and some students to get their ideas about the new variables However, to make sure that the first questionnaire can be used to measure the training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city, the researcher needs to conduct Cronbach alpha tests and EFA tests

After identifying the factors affecting training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city, the second questionnaire was used to determine the satisfaction of the respondents on the existing training quality among these schools The respondents were grouped with regard to their demographic profile so that the satisfaction can be compared with one another.

Ethical Consideration

The respondents of this study are the current and former students of these schools, so ethical consideration must be taken very well in order to avoid the disadvantages for participants This can be done as following aspects:

- The researcher did not force anyone to take part in the survey and make them answer the questionnaire These respondents are current and former students, so they are encouraged to join the survey with their volunteer

Pilot survey Revised objectives and questionnaires

Quantitative research Identified factors influencing training quality

Respondents’ satisfaction with training service

Improvement of training service quality

Exploratory Factor Analysis means, T-tests

- The researcher kept all the personal information of the respondents greatly confidential The respondents who are the second-year students were asked to fill the questionnaire without filling their names, telephone numbers and no personal emails

- Photos of the participants were not taken Voice or video recording were not used during the survey, either.

Population, Sample Size and Sampling Technique

The respondents of the study were chosen from the current second-year students and former students who graduated in 2020

These respondents were asked to complete two sets of separate questionnaires The first questionnaire was for identifying the factors influencing the training quality among vocational schools in Hanoi city – in other words, the first questionnaire contained variables to ask the respondents to rate the importance level for each variable The second questionnaire was for determining the satisfaction of the respondents with the training quality provided at these schools

There are some popular methods to determine the sample size of a study In this study, the sample size of the study was determined by using Slovin’s formula: n = N

1+Nxe 2 where: n is the sample size

N is the population size e is the margin of error (5%)

The population size of the study is some 20,000 This number was determined based on the following data:

- The total current second-year students learning at ten (10) vocational schools are some 10,000 students

- The total graduated students for the last year are some 10,000 students

Therefore, the respondents of the study were 390 (n = 390) To make the sample size more valid, four hundred students – 200 current students and 200 graduates (former students) - were chosen from ten (10) the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city to serve as the respondents of this study The ten (10) stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city have similar numbers of students so forty (40) students – 20 second-year students and 20 graduates were selected from each vocational school in Hanoi city

Table 3.1: Names of Ten (10) the Stated-Owned Vocational Schools in Hanoi city

Names of the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

Number of second-year students

Number of graduates/ former students

1 Hanoi Vocational School of Transportation 20 20

2 Hanoi Vocational School of Mechanics 20 20

3 Hanoi Vocational School No One 20 20

4 Hanoi Vocational School of Traditional Craft 20 20

5 Hanoi Vocational School of Informatics 20 20

7 Hanoi Vocational School of Tourism and Fashion 20 20

8 Hanoi Vocational School of Economics 20 20

9 Hanoi Vocational School of Economics and

10 Hanoi Vocational School of Construction 20 20

Research Instrument

Questionnaires were the main instruments to gather the primary data for the study Based on the literature review, related studies and points of views from experts or experienced people, the researcher made use of the two following questionnaires to collect the primary data for the study

3.4.1 Questionnaires for determining factors affecting the training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city

These questionnaires consisted of factors and the variables relating to training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city Each questionnaire aimed to ask the respondents to rate the impact level of each proposed item following 5-point Likert scale which ranges from:

Table 3.2: Likert Scale for Questionnaire No 1

Scale Range-value Likert-scale Description Verbal Interpretation

5 4.20 - 5.00 Strongly Agree (SA) Very High

1 1.00 – 1.79 Strongly Disagree (SD) Very Low

Table 3.3: Measurement of the Variables for Questionnaire No 1

2) Below 20 years old = 0; 20 years and above = 1

4)Living in Hanoi city = 0; living in surrounding area = 1

Respondents’ opinions of each factor affecting training quality

Respondents’ general points of view on the impacts of factors to the training quality

General impact of the factors on the training quality

Table 3.4: Proposed Factors and the Variables Influencing the Training Quality among the Vocational Schools in Hanoi city

Code Factors/ variables Reference (Adopted/ modified from) TAN Tangibles

TAN_1 The campus has good designs Nguyen Anh

TAN_2 There are enough buildings and classrooms Vu Nga

TAN_3 The classrooms are comfortable Vu Nga

TAN_4 The classrooms are well equipped with desks and chairs Nguyen Anh

TAN_5 The classrooms are well equipped with new and modern visual teaching tools New

TAN_6 The classrooms are well equipped with good audio instruments New

TEA_1 There are enough full-time lecturers New

TEA_2 The teachers give fine theoretical lessons Nguyen Anh

TEA_3 The teachers give fine practical lessons Nguyen Anh

TEA_4 The teachers are friendly New

TEA_5 The teachers listen to the students with respect Nguyen Hoan

TEA_6 The teachers are fair in grading New

CUR_1 The courses are scheduled for individual student Nguyen Hoan

CUR_2 The courses are well designed between theory and practice New

CUR_3 The students are provided with good knowledge Nguyen Anh

CUR_4 The students are provided with necessary skills Nguyen Anh

CUR_5 The compulsory subjects are suitable New

Code Factors/ variables Reference (Adopted/ modified from) CUR_6 The selective subjects are in a variety New

CUR_7 There are good internships New

SUP_1 There are good dormitories for students New

SUP_2 There are comfortable canteens New

SUP_3 There are good sports halls Nguyen Hoan

SUP_4 There are convenient parking spaces Nguyen Anh

SUP_5 There are offices for job orientation New

ADM_1 The administrative staffs are helpful Nguyen Anh

ADM_2 The administrative staffs are friendly Vu Nga

ADM_3 The administration work is done on time New

ADM_4 The procedure of administration is convenient New

TUI_1 The tuition payment can be paid online New

TUI_2 The tuition is affordable New

TUI_3 The tuition can be paid many times during a semester New

TUI_4 There are scholarships for excellent students Vu Nga

TUI_5 There are tuition reductions for prioritized students Vu Nga

SOC_1 There are field trips to firms Vu Nga

SOC_2 There are picnics for relax and entertainment New

SOC_3 There are charitable activities New

SOC_4 There are volunteer activities New

* The complete questionnaire for determining the factors affecting the training quality among the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city can be seen at the appendices

3.4.2 Questionnaires for assessing the satisfaction of the graduates with the training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city

These questionnaires were used to determine the satisfaction levels of the respondents with the training quality provided by the vocational schools in Hanoi city The respondents were asked to rate each variable based on their own satisfaction with the item following 5-point Likert scale The scores range from: 1 – Very Dissatisfied; 2 –

Dissatisfied; 3 – Fair; 4 – Satisfied; 5 – Very Satisfied

Table 3.5: Likert Scale for Questionnaire No 2

* The complete questionnaire for determining the satisfactions of the graduates with the training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city can be seen at the appendices

Table 3.6: Measurement of the Variables for Questionnaire No 2

2) Below 20 years old = 0; 20 years and above = 1

4)Living in Hanoi city = 0; living in surrounding area = 1

Respondents’ opinions of each factor affecting training quality

Respondents’ general satisfaction with the training quality

General satisfaction with the training quality

Data Gathering Procedure

In this study, the data and information were gathered from two sources – primary data and secondary data – to carry out qualitative and quantitative analysis

In order to collect the primary data, the researcher made use of two sets of questionnaires which are prepared in both English and Vietnamese The first questionnaire designed with seven (7) factors consisting thirty-seven (37) variables was used to determine the factors affecting the training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city The respondents were required to rate the items according to 5-point Likert scale, i.e, if the respondent thinks that a variable has strong impact to the training quality, he or she rated the item with five (5); if he thinks that a variable has very low impact to the training quality, he rated it with one (1)

The second questionnaire was used to determine the satisfaction levels of the respondents with the training quality provided among the vocational schools in Hanoi city The respondents were required to rate each variable based on their own satisfaction with the training quality provided Therefore, he would rate a variable with five (5) if he perceives that he was very satisfied; he would rate a variable with one (1) if he experienced very poor training quality relating to this variable

There are ten state-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city, so forty (40) respondents were contacted at each school (20 current students and 20 former students) 20 hard copies of questionnaires were delivered directly to the respondents who are now current students at the schools These twenty students were chosen from twenty different classes – one student was selected from each class The samples were selected systematically; in class numbered 1, the first student in the student list was chosen; in class numbered 2, the second student was selected…ect

Due to Covid-19, 200 questionnaires (20 questionnaires for each school) were sent to the respondents who were former students via emails These respondents were the former monitors because the schools still have their emails The departments of student affair assisted the researcher to contact and send emails to these respondents

The secondary data was gathered from a variety of sources Various books, research papers, studies provided useful sources to prepare theoretical framework, conceptual framework and research design These materials were used to carry out the content of related literature and related studies

A variety of secondary data and information was collected through the reliable websites on the internet

Books, papers related to the topic written in Vietnamese were translated into English for better references

So as to describe the profile of the vocational schools in Hanoi city, a variety of reports concerning with these schools were collected with the help of the departments of administration and the colleagues.

Data Processing and Data Analysis

The collected data and information were processed using SPSS 20.0 to deal with the following statistical treatments:

Frequency and percentage distributions were used to determine the profile of the respondents in terms of their genders, ages, ethnicity, residence and learning status The four hundred respondents were grouped based on specific criteria

Means, weighted means, and overall means were calculated to determine the factors and variables which have influences on the training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city with regard to selected factors such as tangibles, teachers, curricula, supports to students, administration, tuition payment and social activities They were also utilized to determine the satisfaction levels of the respondents in terms of chosen factors and variables with the training quality provided at these schools

Cronbach’s alpha tests were used to measure internal consistency, that is, how closely related a set of items or variables are as a group/ factor In this study, Cronbach’s alpha tests were used to determine the variables which had consistency and belonged to a specific factor These test helped to remove garbage variables, which would then be useful for EFA tests later

Cronbach's Alpha of each factor (according to Nunnally and Burnstein, 1994): if

Cronbach‘s Alpha ≥ 0.9, the factor is considered to be excellent; if Cronbach‘s Alpha 0.8 ≤ α < 0.9, the factor is considered to be good; if Cronbach‘s Alpha 0.7 ≤ α < 0.8 is acceptable In this study, the Cronbach's Alpha ≥ 0.7 is considered to be acceptable

Cronbach's Alpha of each factor with another factor (De Vaus, 2002): Cronbach‘s Alpha ≤ 0.3, the factor research is considered not reliability and will be removed from the models

Cronbach's alpha of the factors group and entire questionnaires (Gliem and Gliem, 2003): Cronbach‘s Alpha ≥ 0.7, selected factors group will ensure necessary level of significance Cronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted of each factors need bigger than Cronbach's alpha of the factors group according to Raykov, T (2008) If not, it will need to be checked again in EFA analysis

Cronbach's alpha Internal consistency α ≥ 0.9 Excellent

EFA (Exploratory Factor Analysis) tests was used to reduce large number of variables to smaller sets of variables In this study, EFA was used to make sure that the 37 variables were grouped into seven factors or not If there are additional factors, they must be named for further analysis

- Factor analysis of the principal components allows to simplify many variables (variables or items which their correlations mutual) become the quantity are expressed in the form linear correlation and called the factors

- The test standards: According Hair et al (2006)

+ KMO: Indicator measures the appropriateness of the factors>0.5

+ Sig: Statistical significance represents the correlation between the variables Sig≤ 0.05

+ Cumulative %: >50% Rate explains the volatility of the dependent variable from the independent variables in the model

+ Factor loading: The requirement for loading factor of elements in research with smaller sample size than 100 is 0.75; Number of samples in 100-350 is 0.55; Number of samples over

T-tests are used to determine whether there are significant differences between the impacts of the factors rated by the respondents on the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city and their profile

Hypotheses were used to determine if there is significant difference between the means rated by the groups categorized with regard to their demographic profile:

Ho: There is no statistically significant difference between the means given by the groups categorized with regard to their profile

H1: There is statistically significant difference between the means given by the groups categorized with regard to their profile

T-tests were also used to determine whether there is significant difference between the satisfaction of the graduates with the training service among the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city and their profile

Hypotheses are used to determine if there is significant difference between the satisfaction of the graduates with the training service with regard to their demographic profile:

Ho: There is no statistically significant difference between the satisfaction the groups categorized with regard to their profile

H1: There is statistically significant difference between the satisfaction by the groups categorized with regard to their profile

Multiple regression was used to explain the relationship between one dependent variable and independent variables In this study, multiple regression was used to explain the relationship between the general perception (dependent factor) of the respondents on the impact of the factors affecting training quality and their perceptions (independent factors) on specific impact of each factor affecting the training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city

The regression model should be:

FAQ = β1*TEA + β2*ADM + β3*TAN + β4*CUR + β5*TUI + β6*SOC + β7*SUP

- FAQ = General Impact of factors affecting the training quality

Multiple regression was also used to explain the relationship between the personal characteristics of the graduates and their satisfaction with the training quality among the stated- owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

The regression model should be:

GS = C + β1*GEN + β2*AGE + β3*ETH + β4*PLA

Results and Discussion

Characteristics of the ten (10) Stated-owned Vocational Schools in Hanoi city

In this section, the researcher presented the names of ten (10) the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city and some basic characteristics of the 10 stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

* Names of the 10 stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

1 Hanoi Vocational School of Transportation

2 Hanoi Vocational School of Mechanics

3 Hanoi Vocational School No One

4 Hanoi Vocational School of Traditional Craft

5 Hanoi Vocational School of Informatics

7 Hanoi Vocational School of Tourism and Fashion

8 Hanoi Vocational School of Economics

9 Hanoi Vocational School of Economics and Finance

10 Hanoi Vocational School of Construction

The organizational structure of the schools is organized according to the provisions of Circular No 47/2016/TT-BLDTBXH dated December 28, 2016 of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, with the following structure: Board of Directors, functional departments, faculties, divisions and other units

The total number of state servants in 2021 is 542, including: 488 full-time employees, 54 contracted laborers according to Decree 68/2000/ND-CP Up to the time of reporting, the total number of teachers is 467

1 The data related to the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city can be accessed via the websites of the Department of Labor, War invalids and Social Affairs https://solaodong.hanoi.gov.vn/khoi_truong All of the information can be seen through this website

The number of full-time teachers accounts for less than thirty percent of the total employees working for the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city These schools have to hire contracted teachers and part-time ones to fulfill the work The lack of full-time teachers may negatively affect the training quality at these vocational schools

The total area of land the City gives to 10 the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city for use is 200,285m2, of which the total area of work items in service of training and working is 167,359 m2

According to the provisions of Decree No 143/2016/ND-CP dated October 14, 2016 and Decree No 140/2018/ND-CP dated October 8, 2018 of the Government on conditions of land area used for middle schools (10,000 m2 for schools in the inner city; 20,000 m2 for schools in the suburbs), only 5/10 schools meet the standards: Hanoi General Vocational School, Hanoi Vocational School of Public Transport, Hanoi Mechanical Vocational School 1, Hanoi Vocational School of Cooking - Tourism and Fashion, Hanoi Vocational School No 1 These are all (old) vocational schools in the fields of labor, war invalids and social affairs

The remaining 5 schools under the Department of Education and Training were transferred according to Decision No 2230/QD-UBND dated April 12, 2017 of the City People's Committee on the transfer of functions and tasks of state management and other agencies Department of vocational education and training from the Department of Education and Training to the

Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs: Hanoi Vocational School of Economics and Finance, Hanoi Vocational School of Economics, Ha Noi Vocational School of Construction, Hanoi Vocational School of Information Technology, Thang Long Vocational School of has a small land area, which has not met the prescribed standards

10 the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city, which are granted the Certificate of Vocational Education Activity Registration by the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, allow enrollment to train 77 professions and majors with a total enrollment of 2 levels of qualifications annually 13,715 people/year, of which: Intermediate level 62 occupations, enrollment scale is 7,700 people/year; Beginner level 39 occupations, enrollment scale is 6,015 people/year

Training majors can be classified into 04 groups of training fields as follows:

- Mechanics, electricity, electronics, dynamic mechanics, information technology

It is said that the training programs focus more than theories than practice, which makes new graduates spend longer time to get used to working environment at enterprises The curricula are still based on strict requirements set by the Department of Education so there is not a variety of selective subjects which are widely used at other people-founded vocational schools, colleges and universities in Vietnam

4.1.4 Results of enrollment, graduation and job placement

As of January 2020, 10 the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city had recruited and trained 50,780 people, of which: 16,648 people with intermediate level; 34,132 people with elementary level and under 03 months As for the target, the city assigns intermediate-level training (enrolling in Hanoi households) with a total target of 20,620 people: schools have recruited and trained 14,718 people, accounting for 71.37% The average job creation rate for all levels of training is about 61.8%,

Regarding the results of enrollment and training, some schools still maintain good enrollment results: Vocational School No 1 in Hanoi; Hanoi Vocational School of Public

Transport; Hanoi Mechanics Vocational School I; Thang Long Vocational School of Economics - Technical (over 100%) However, there are still some schools with very low results (Hanoi

Vocational School of Economics, Hanoi Vocational School of Economics - Finance, Hanoi

Vocational School of Construction) Some schools have low number of students, mainly training links at permanent education centers and high schools.

Profile of the Respondents

In this section, the characteristics of the respondents are presented and discussed based on the data gathered by the researcher via the structured survey questionnaires

Table 4.1: Computed Table of Frequency and Percentage of the Respondents’ Profile Profile of the respondents

Source: Gathered and calculated by researcher

Table 4.1 shows the computed table of frequency and percentage of the respondents’ profile As can be seen from the data presented in Table 4.1, there were total 400 respondents answering the questionnaires These respondents were systematically chosen from current and former students of the 10 stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city Forty (40) respondents were selected from each school; 20 students are currently studying and the others graduated in

The gender distribution of student sample who participated in the research shows that the majority (n = 288, or 72%) were male, the female respondents were 112 accounting for 28 percent It can be inferred that male students learning at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city dominate the number of female ones This can be due to the majors provided at these schools such as garment, shoe-making, cookery…are not as popular as the others carpentry, construction, mechanics

In terms of ages, there are 247 respondents accounting for nearly 61,8 percent aging below 20 years These students are those who finished the primary schools at the age of 15 but they did not go to secondary ones; they chose to learn training programs at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city There are 153 respondents accounting for 38,2 percent who age above 20 years These respondents can be those who finished secondary schools, came back from the military services, or returned from enterprises to learn or improve their skills needed for their jobs

In terms of ethnicity, there were 364 respondents accounting for 91 percent belonging to Kinh group, which seems suitable because most of the minor ethnic people live in the remote areas in mountainous towns and cities where there are usually local vocational schools

However, there are still some respondents who came from the neighboring provinces like Hoa Binh or Vinh Phuc studying at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city These respondents may come and stay with their parents who work in Hanoi city or for some other individual reasons

In terms of permanent residence, there were 333 respondents accounting for 83,3 percent addressing in Hanoi city The others come from the surrounding provinces such as Bac Ninh, Hai Duong, Hoa Binh, Thai Nguyen and Vinh Phuc As a matter of fact, there are also state- owned vocational schools in every province so there is no need for young people coming to big cities to learn except for personal reasons

In terms of learning status, the researcher chose to select 200 respon dents who are currently studying at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city and the other 200 ones who already finished recently The reason of selecting both current students and former ones is to identify the possibly different points of views given by the respondents to the questions in the survey.

Factors affecting the Training Quality among the Stated-owned Vocational Schools in

4.3.1 Impacts of the factors on the training quality among the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city as rated by the respondents

In this section, points of views of the respondents were used to determine the impacts of the factors which were believed to affect the training quality among the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city The respondents were asked to rate the impact of each proposed item on the training quality following 5-point Likert scale which ranges from 1 –Strongly Disagree; 2 –

Disagree; 3 – Neutral; 4 – Agree; 5 – Strongly Agree If a respondent strongly disagreed with one statement, it meant he or she thought that this item had very low impact on the training quality; …If a respondent strongly agreed with one statement, it meant he or she thought that this item had very high impact on the training quality

Scale Range-value Likert-scale Description Verbal Interpretation

5 4.20 - 5.00 Strongly Agree (SA) Very High (VH)

1 1.00 – 1.79 Strongly Disagree (SD) Very Low (VL)

Table 4.2 presents the impacts of variables on the training quality in terms of tangibility rated by respondents There are six selected items belonging to factor tangibility As can be seen from the data in table 4.2, the mean of tangibility is 3.58 corresponding to high (H) level, which can mean that the respondents think tangibility had a high impact on the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city The standard deviation of this factor is 1.04 showing that there is a quite large gap between the perceptions of the respondents on the impact level of this factor to the training quality at these schools

In terms of item “The classrooms are air-conditioned”, the respondents give mean of 4.22 which is equivalent to very high (VH) level It can be inferred that the students really want their classrooms to be equipped with air conditioners to have better learning condition especially in summer It is a reality that very few schools are facilitated with air conditioners in Vietnam these days

In terms of items “The classrooms are well equipped with modern visual teaching tools; The classrooms are well equipped with desks and chairs; and There are enough buildings and classrooms”, the means of these items are 3.92, 3.82, 3.71 respectively, which may infer that the respondents think these items have important effects on the training quality at these vocational schools Currently, visual teaching instruments play important roles in teaching and learning, which help to deliver better presentations such as pictures, charts and tables in order to enhance the learning progresses The respondents also think that every training institute needs to have enough classrooms which are equipped with fine desks and chairs so as to provide the most necessary learning equipment to the learners

In terms of item “The campus has good designs”, the respondents give mean of 3.28, which means that the respondents assume that the campus designs have moderate (M) impact on the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city The standard deviation of this item is 0.88 meaning that the points of view of these respondents are not very large from one another’s It can be inferred that although students want good designs of the campuses, they do not think that this criterion plays important role in training quality where that need to provided with practical skills for future jobs rather than knowledge in general

In terms of item “The classrooms are well equipped with good audio tools”, the respondents give low mean of 2.54 corresponding to low (L) level Thus, they do not think that this variable is important to the training quality provided at their vocational schools As a matter of fact, these classrooms are usually small so the students usually face no problems with audio instruments such as microphones and loudspeakers It is quite different from those who study at universities where the classes are very big with lots of students learning together so it is usually hard for them to listen to the teachers without the aids of audio tools

Table 4.2: Impacts of Variables on the Training Quality in Terms of Tangibility Rated by Respondents

TAN_1 The campus has good designs 3.28 M 0.88

TAN_2 There are enough buildings and classrooms 3.71 H 1.28

TAN_3 The classrooms are air-conditioned 4.22 VH 1.30

TAN_4 The classrooms are well equipped with desks and chairs 3.82 H 1.31

TAN_5 The classrooms are well equipped with modern visual teaching tools 3.92 H 1.32

TAN_6 The classrooms are well equipped with good audio tools 2.54 L 0.54

Source: Gathered and calculated by researcher

Table 4.3 presents the impacts of variables on the training quality in terms of teachers as perceived by respondents There are six selected items belonging to this factor As can be seen from the data in table 4.3, the mean of factor “teachers” is 4.07 being equivalent to high (H) level, which can mean that the respondents assume that factors “teachers” has a high effect on the training quality as perceived by the respondents at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city The standard deviation of this factor is 0.76 meaning that there is not a quite large gap between the perceptions of the respondents on the impact of this factor to the training quality at these schools

There are two items “The teachers give fine practical lessons; and The teachers are fair in grading” getting means of over 4.20 corresponding to very high (VH) level It can be inferred that the students are much interested in being given practical lessons which are obviously useful for future jobs It is a reality that vocational schools should give more practical lessons than theoretical ones The students also care about their grades given by the teachers It is the nature of learners who always care for their scores while studying and the academic records are useful for job application in the future

For other four selected items relating to factor “teachers”, their means are rated corresponding to high (H) level The students want to be taught by full-time teachers but usually some vocational schools do not employ enough full-time ones so they hire part-time lecturers to give practical lessons Theoretical lessons are not considered as very important variable for that the respondents are trained to work as workers, not to become managers The friendliness of teachers to the students is not considered as an important item because of the traditional culture in Vietnam

Table 4.3: Impacts of Variables on the Training Quality in Terms of Teachers Rated by Respondents

TEA_1 There are enough full-time lecturers 4.03 H 0.80

TEA_2 The teachers give fine theoretical lessons 4.02 H 0.79 TEA_3 The teachers give fine practical lessons 4.21 VH 0.87

TEA_4 The teachers are friendly 3.81 H 0.62

TEA_5 The teachers listen to the students with respect 4.09 H 0.83

TEA_6 The teachers are fair in grading 4.25 VH 0.89

Source: Gathered and calculated by researcher

As can be seen from the data presented in table 4.4, the mean of factor “curricula” is 3.89 being equivalent to high (H) level, which can mean that the respondents perceive this factor as having important effect on the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city The standard deviation of this factor is 0.53 meaning that there is not a quite small gap between the perceptions of the respondents on the impact of factor curricula to the training quality at these schools

Among these items relating to factor “curricula”, item “There are good internships” ranks the first in terms of importance to the training quality with its mean of 4,33 corresponding to high (H) level It can be inferred that internship plays a very important role for those who study at vocational schools because they are provided necessary skills and experiences for being ready to fulfill their incoming jobs at enterprises

With regard to item “The students are provided with necessary skills”, the respondents gave mean of 4,29 being equivalent to very high (VH) level It may mean that being provided basic and necessary skills is much more important than theoretical lessons at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city As a matter of fact, there are still many theoretical topics being taught at schools in Vietnam, which is thought to be unnecessary for those who learn at vocational schools where skills should be provided with more priorities

In terms of item “The selective subjects are in a variety”, its mean is 4,21 being equivalent to very high (VH) level, which can be inferred that the students want to be given the choice of selecting some preferred topics while studying at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city In general, selective subjects are not provided at schools in Vietnam especially vocational schools

The three remaining items including “The courses are scheduled for individual student; The compulsory subjects are suitable; and The courses are well designed between theory and practice” received means of 3,85; 3,18; and 3,27 respectively It can be inferred that the respondents assume that these items play moderate importance to training quality at vocational schools in Hanoi city

Table 4.4: Impacts of Variables on the Training Quality in Terms of Curricula Rated by Respondents

Factors Affecting the Satisfaction of Graduates with the Training Quality among the Stated-owned Vocational Schools in Hanoi city

In this part, the study presents the statistical treatments relating to the graduates’ satisfaction with the training quality provided among the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city as perceived by the 200 respondents who are the former students

4.4.1 Satisfaction of the graduates with the training quality provided at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city as rated by the respondents

In this part, the researcher presents the satisfaction levels of the respondents with the training quality among the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city Two hundred graduates who studied at ten were chosen to answer the second questionnaire They were required to show their satisfaction level with each item related to the training service, i.e., how satisfied they were with the training service provided among the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

Table 4.34 presents the satisfaction levels with the training quality in terms of tangibility as perceived by the respondents As can be seen from the data shown in this table, the average mean of factor tangibility is 2.60 corresponding to N (Neutral) level, which means that the respondents seem quite a bit dissatisfied with the training quality in terms of tangible variables at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city in general

Three variables “the campus designs; the comfort of the classrooms; and the visual teaching tools” received means of lower than 2.60 being equivalent to dissatisfied (D) level, which may mean that:

- The respondents are dissatisfied with the designs of their campuses This can be the fact that vocational schools do not usually have fine campuses in comparison with those of universities and colleges The stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city are not the exception due to the difficulties of financial expenditures Some of these schools were built some decades ago and they are not in good condition and need to be repaired or newly built

- The respondents are also dissatisfied with not being provided with comfortable classrooms, which can result from small and old classes without air-conditioners In reality, very few vocational schools have air-conditioners due to their limited finance provided by the government of Hanoi city Recently, staff offices and computing rooms have been air- conditioned whereas classrooms do not have fine air-conditioners

- Furthermore, the respondents are not satisfied with quality of the visual teaching tools such as projectors and screens installed at their vocational schools Although most of the classrooms have been installed with visual teaching instruments, they are usually in poor condition due to long uses and cheap prices

The three remaining variables “the buildings and classrooms; the desks and chairs; and the audio tools” got means being equivalent to N (Neutral) level, which can be inferred that the respondents are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with these variables In other words, they show no ideas about these tangible items relating to the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city As a matter of facts, vocational schools as well as others types of schools have been equipped with better and better teaching equipment such as tables, chairs and boards More classrooms have been built to meet the need of current teaching infrastructures

Table 4.34: Satisfaction Levels with the Training Quality in Terms of Tangibility as

CODE TANGIBILITY Mean Verbal interpret-ation

Std Deviation TAN_1 How satisfied are you with the campus designs? 2.36 D 0.90

TAN_2 How satisfied are you with the buildings and classrooms? 2.89 F 0.77

TAN_3 How satisfied are you with the comfort of the classrooms? 2.35 D 0.91

TAN_4 How satisfied are you with the desks and chairs? 2.85 F 0.48

TAN_5 How satisfied are you with the visual teaching tools? 2.37 D 0.90

TAN_6 How satisfied are you with the audio tools? 2.78 F 0.45

Source: Gathered and calculated by researcher

As can be seen in table 4.35, the average mean given to factor “teachers” is 2.73 corresponding to low N (Neutral) level, which means that the respondents are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with this factor in general

In terms of item “the availability of full-time teachers”, the satisfaction level given by the graduates is 2.55 corresponding to dissatisfied (D) level It can be explained by the new recruitment of full-time teachers at these state-owned vocational schools recently In reality, most of these schools have to hire part-time teachers to give lectures due to the shortage of regular ones

In terms of item “the practical lessons”, the former students show their dissatisfaction by giving mean of 2.58 being equivalent to dissatisfied (D) level There are some complaints about this matter when new graduates work at enterprises for they lack some necessary skills to fulfill their tasks

In terms of item “the teachers’ respect”, the respondents show their dissatisfaction by giving means of lower than 2.60 corresponding to dissatisfied (D) level Usually, the teachers consider their students as schoolboys and schoolgirls so they may not listen to the students with enough respects especially at state-owned school in general

Table 4.35: Satisfaction Levels with the Training Quality in Terms of Teachers as

TEA_1 How satisfied are you with the availability of full- time teachers? 2.55 D 0.81

TEA_2 How satisfied are you with the theoretical lessons? 2.95 F 1.29

TEA_3 How satisfied are you with the practical lessons? 2.58 D 1.13

TEA_4 How satisfied are you with the teachers’ friendliness? 2.98 F 1.26

TEA_5 How satisfied are you with the teachers’ respect? 2.51 D 0.83

TEA_6 How satisfied are you with the teachers’ grading? 2.84 F 1.31

Source: Gathered and calculated by researcher

Table 4.36 shows the satisfaction levels with the training quality in terms of curricula as perceived by the respondents who are the graduates The average mean of this factor is 2.52 meaning that the respondents are dissatisfied with this factor in general

Except for two items “the courses scheduled for individual student and the courses designed between theory and practice” given means of 2.69 and 2.65 respectively The five remaining items were rated with low means being equivalent to dissatisfied (D) level

The graduates seem dissatisfied with being given fine knowledge when they gave a mean of 2.55, which can be due to the late changes of curricula and teaching methods at the stated- owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

In terms of item “the skills provided”, the former students show their dissatisfaction with not being provided with basic and necessary skills It may mean that the graduates realize the shortages of their skill when they come to work at firms

Summary of Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations

Summary of Findings

The study was conducted to identify the factors affecting the training quality at the stated- owned vocational schools in Hanoi city There were seven thirty-seven variables being used to determine the importance levels on which each variable has effect The study also assessed the satisfaction levels of the respondents with the training quality at these schools

There were 400 current and former students serving as the respondents of the study –

200 respondents were selected from the second-year current students studying at the stated- owned vocational schools in Hanoi city and 200 were former students

Two sets of questionnaires were used to collect the primary data for the analysis 400 respondents were asked to fill the first questionnaire; 200 graduates were required to fill the second questionnaire The main findings of the study are as the following:

1) With regard to the demographic profile of the respondents of the study

- Male students dominate the number of students at these schools with some seventy-two percent;

- More than sixty percent of the students are under 20 years old;

- Ninety-one percent of the students belongs to Kinh group;

- More than eighty percent of the respondents come from Hanoi city

2) In terms of the factors affecting the training quality at th e stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city,

Twenty-seven out of thirty-seven items related to the training quality were rated to have high and very high impacts on the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

- With regard to factor “Tangibility”, item “The classrooms are air-conditioned” has the highest impact on the training quality

- With regard to factor “Teachers”, items “The teachers give fine practical lessons; The teachers are fair in grading” have the highest impacts on the training quality

- With regard to factor “Curricula”, items “The selective subjects are in a variety; The students are provided with necessary skills; There are good internships have very high impacts on the training quality

- With regard to factor “Supports to students”, items “There are good dormitories for students; There are comfortable canteens; There are offices for job orientation” are believed to have very high impacts on the training quality

- With regard to factor “Administration”, there is no item being rated to have very high impact on the training quality

- With regard to factor “Tuition payment”, there is no item being rated to have very high impact on the training quality

- With regard to factor “Social activities”, there is no item being rated to have very high impact on the training quality

3) With regard to the impact of the factors on training quality,

The results of the study show that all of the seven factors positively affect the training quality among the vocational schools in Hanoi city Among these factors, factor “Teachers” has the strongest impact on the training quality; factor “Administration” ranks the second strongest; factor “Tangibility” ranks the third strongest; …factor “Supports to students” has the lowest influence on the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

4) With regard to the satisfaction of the graduates with the training quality among the stated- owned vocational schools in Hanoi city,

Twenty-two out of thirty-seven items relating to the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city are dissatisfied by the respondents who used to study at these schools

- In terms of factor “Tangibility”, the graduates dissatisfied with the campus designs, the comfort of the classrooms and the visual teaching tools

- In terms of factor “Teachers”, the graduates are dissatisfied with the availability of the full-time teachers, the lack of practical lessons and the teachers’ respect to the students

- In terms of factor “Curricula”, the graduates show their dissatisfaction with most of the items including the knowledge and skills provided, the compulsory and selective subjects, and the internship given to the students

- In terms of factor “Supports to students”, the graduates are dissatisfied with the dormitories, the canteens and the sports halls

- In terms of factor “Administration”, the former students are dissatisfied with not being given fine help from the staff They are also dissatisfied with the friendliness of the school staff The students also have complaints for the administration procedure

- In terms of factor “Tuition payment”, the graduates are only dissatisfied with one item relating to the scholarships for the excellent students at these schools

- In terms of factor “Social activities”, the former students show their dissatisfaction with all of the four items They don’t think the schools hold fine field trips to firms; there are not enough for relax; the charitable activities are not well organized; and there are not meaningful volunteer activities

5) With regard to the difference between the respondents’ satisfaction when they are grouped according to profile

- There is no significant difference between the respondents’ genders and their satisfaction with the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

- There is no significant difference between the respondents’ ages and their satisfaction with the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

- In terms of factor “supports to students”, there is significant difference between the respondents’ ethnicity and their satisfaction with the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

- There is no significant difference between the respondents’ place of residence and their satisfaction with the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

- In terms of factors “curricula, supports to students, and general satisfaction”, there are significant differences between the respondents’ learning status and their satisfaction with the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

- The four dummy variables were not statistically significant, we could drop gender, age, ethnicity, and place of residence as predictors from the model because it doesn’t appear to add any predictive value for the satisfaction level of a graduate with the training quality among the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city.

Conclusions

Based on the findings of the study, the author can make the conclusions as the following:

1) In terms of the demographic profile of the students at the stated-owned vocational schools in

- It can be inferred from the results of the study that nearly three-third of the students are male ones It is quite suitable for vocational schools where young male people come to learn mainly technical skills

- There are few students aging above twenty for most of them enter these schools after their secondary or even primary graduation

- Very few students belong to minor ethnicity because the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city are located in Hanoi city so young people from rural and mountainous areas choose to study at vocational schools located in their province – there are usually at least one vocational school in each province

2) In terms of the factors affecting the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city,

In general, some three-fourth of the items are assumed to have high and very high impacts on the training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city As a matter of fact, all items can be important and useful for the training quality However, some of them play more important roles or higher impacts if relatively compared to the others

- Among the physical facilities, the students believe that the air-conditioned classrooms are the most important factor for enhancing the training quality In reality, most of the schools do not have air-conditioners in Vietnam It is very challenging for the students to sit inside the classrooms without air-conditioners especially in summer

- With regard to the teaching staff, the students need to be given more practical lessons; they also want the teachers to give fair marks during the tests and exams

- With regard to the curricula, the students want to be given more selective subjects for better choices A variety of necessary skills should be provided to the students, especially soft ones The students also need more internships so that they can practice what they learn at schools a and have the opportunities to be employed at the firms during their internships

- With regard to the supportive facilities for the students, although most of the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city have the dormitories and the canteens for the students, these amenities have been in use for a long time and are now in poor condition Therefore, these schools need to improve these dormitories and the canteens to satisfy the students better In reality, few schools have the orientation offices so the students really need these offices for job orientation before their graduation

- For the remaining three factors related to the administration, tuition and social activities, the students think that there are no items which have very high impacts on the training quality With the limited resources, the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city should focus on the items which are considered to have very high impacts on the training quality first

3) With regard to the impact of the factors on training quality,

There are positive correlations between the training-related factors and the overall training quality at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city It can be inferred that if the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city focus on a factor and improve this factor, it may lead to the higher overall training quality at these schools

Based on the outputs of the study, factor “teachers” are assumed to have the strongest impact on the overall training quality; factor “administration” has the second strongest and factor

“tangibility” ranks the third In comparison with some other previous researches, teachers and physical facilities are usually rank among the tops of factors affecting training quality at schools in general

4) With regard to the satisfaction of the graduates with the training quality among the stated- owned vocational schools in Hanoi city,

The graduates showed their dissatisfaction with nearly two-thirds of the items related to the training services provided by the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city These schools should be ware of the problems and implement action plans to improve the training services in the time to come

- In terms of the physical facilities, the graduates think that the campuses are in poor condition; the classrooms are not comfortable enough; and there are lacks of visual teaching equipment

- In the views of the graduates, there is a shortage of full-time teachers working for the stated- owned vocational schools in Hanoi city; the teachers do not give fine practical lessons – they concentrate too much on theoretical ones; and some of the teachers do not listen to the student with fine respects

- With regard to the learning programs, the graduates are dissatisfied with not being provided enough knowledge and skills; they also complain of a small variety of selective subjects

- The graduates are unhappy with the administration staff for their unhelpfulness and unfriendliness; they also think that the administration procedure is not fine enough

- It seems that the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city do not have fine scholarships for the ones who have excellent academic performance or in priority policies such as minor ethnicity, poverty families or in remote and mountainous areas of Vietnam

- The graduates show their dissatisfaction with the social activities held by the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city In reality, due to Covid 19, there were social distancing campaigns in Vietnam, so it was difficult to conduct social activities during that hard time

5) With regard to the difference between the respondents’ satisfaction when they are grouped according to profile

Based on the results of the study, it can be inferred that the levels of satisfaction of the graduates who are classified into demographic characteristics are the same in general To put it another way, the former students’ satisfaction levels with the training services provided by the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city are almost the same.

Recommendations

Based on the output of the study, the researcher would like to propose some recommendations and solutions which can be used by the managers of the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city to improve the training quality provided to the students at these schools in the time to come

In terms of factor “Tangibility”, the managers of the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city need to spend money redecorating the campuses as well as building new facilities to enhance the designs of the campuses This work must be very costly so the managers need to require the people’s committee of Hanoi city to give them the financial supports In reality, the tuition fees paid by the students are not enough to fund these expensive tasks These vocational schools can deal with this hard work by calling the financial supports from the graduates especially those who are now successful and willing to make the financial contributions to their old schools

The vocational schools need to improve the learning condition by installing air-conditioners to comfort the students during summer time In many other schools, if the schools do not have money for installing air-conditioners, the current students are encouraged to share the expenditures of this work The stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city can also follow the ways of other schools to facilitate the learning conditions with air-conditioners in the classrooms Modern visual teaching tools such as projectors, screens and televisions should be available in every classroom to facilitate the teaching activities These teaching instruments now play very important roles in the training quality so the managers have to find the financial sources to buy these tools to meet the requirements of the students Second-hand equipment can be good choices provided that they are still in fair conditions It is seen that many schools have received the assistance from non-government organizations to improve their learning conditions in Vietnam recently

In terms of factor “teachers”, the vocational schools should recruit more full-time teachers to avoid the disruption for the lacks of visiting ones who are not always available to hire for giving lessons at the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city The managers can require the people’s committee to give the rights to employ new teachers paid by the tuition fees, which can help the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city to actively deal with the shortage of their full-time teachers Long-term contracted teachers can be a fine choice to eliminate the lacks of teachers during the semesters

Teachers should be required to deliver more practical lessons, not theoretical ones Longer internships can be a good way to have the students practiced at real working environments at enterprises where the students can practice what they have learnt theoretically at schools More workshops should be built inside the campuses so that the students can get acquainted with the operation of machines and practice what they have learnt in the classrooms

Teachers should also be asked to show their politeness and friendliness to the students by listening to them with respect In order to deal with this matter, the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city needs to set up their own internal regulations of the behaviors among the teachers and students

In terms of factor “curricula”, the managers of these schools need to change the content of the curricula so that the students are trained with basic and necessary skills for the future jobs It is the reality that students have to learn too many topics related to political issues, which is not suitable for those who come to vocational schools to learn basic skills for line-production jobs at manufacturing enterprises These topics should be removed from the curricula at the stated- owned vocational schools in Hanoi city

There should be a variety of selective topics for facilitate the choices of the students As a matter of fact, there is not a variety of selective topics at vocational schools even at colleges or universities in Vietnam So as to enhance and motivate the students to focus their aptitudes on specific aspects or their future jobs, these vocational schools need to urgently introduce a large variety of selective topics

More and useful internships should be given to the students while they are studying at schools Better internships not only help students practice what they have learnt at schools but also provide them with opportunities to apply for jobs while they are doing their internships and enterprises

In terms of factor “supports to students”, the existing dormitories should be fixed to improve the accommodation for the students staying at the dormitories These dorms were built many years ago – during the centrally-planned economy so they are now in poor conditions and they need to be fixed especially the water and electricity systems

New hostels should be built to provide good settlement for those who want to stay in the dormitories There are more and more students wanting to stay in the hostels for the conveniences Many students coming from the suburban areas face the difficulties in hiring accommodation outside the campuses for higher costs The transportation is also a big problem in Hanoi city these days, which makes the students living outside experience hard time on the way to school and back home

The canteens and sports halls should be in good condition so that the students can have good meals, relax and improve their health The stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city can learn these supportive facilities from people-founded vocational schools in Hanoi city They provided much better supportive facilities for the students beside learning activities

In terms of factor “administration”, office staff should be retrained to meet the new requirement for the new time of competition These staff need to be helpful and friendly to the students as they can be considered as the customers; the administration procedure needs to be changed using IT to give the students more convenience

In terms of factor “tuition payment”, the managers of the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city should find the sources lower the tuition for those who are not provided these training for free; there should be more scholarships to encourage the students to study better, which will be very good for their future careers

In terms of factor “social activities”, the students are dissatisfied with these activities The reasons can be due to Covid-19 pandemic When the pandemic is over, the stated-owned vocational schools in Hanoi city should pay more attention to this matter More social activities should be conducted to enhance the moods of the students as well as their social responsibilities while they are still at schools

Ackers, J., & Hardman, F (2001) Classroom interaction in Kenyan primary schools, Journal of comparative and international education, 31(2)