Not all higher education institutions in Vietnam are willing to grant automatic admission to disadvantaged candidates even though the local education ministry says it is a must.

The Ministry of Education and Training introduced a policy last year that required colleges to automatically admit applicants from designated impoverished regions to make sure these areas, where academic standards are lower than other more developed parts, will have a skilled workforce for the development of the country.

But many schools have refused to do so, citing poor academic performance and financial drawbacks.

Thai Binh Medical College, located in the northern province of Thai Binh, says that it will not present automatic admission to these applicants in this academic year.

Another northern medical school, Thai Nguyen Medical College, also has no plans to reserve seats for candidates coming from the regions, Nguyen Minh Thanh, its chief of academic affairs, said.

Thanh explained that the school received very few applications from these students last year so class arrangements were a challenge for them.

Candidates’ competence was also an issue then, he added.

One university in Hanoi which was slammed last year for rejecting such applications has decided to “bypass” the policy this year by setting a high bar.

The University of Economic and Business says it will consider granting automatic admission to those candidates who have accumulated excellent academic performance in high school and scored very well on their graduation exam.

University hopefuls who can meet all these requirements will not have to resort to the ministry’s scheme as they can definitely seek normal acceptance like other applicants, complained Nguyen Van Long, an education official in the northern province of Thanh Hoa.

Finance is also a reason why many schools are trying to defy the ministry’s request, according to Luong Tran Khue, academic affairs chief at Hai Phong Medical University.

Khue elaborated that a lot of candidates who had been accepted via this policy could not pursue her school’s programs simply because they did not have enough money.

However the education insists that this is an affirmative-action policy so all schools must enact it.

The government will make more loans available to help these students, Bui Van Ga, a deputy minister, said.

Every year Vietnamese colleges start recruiting new students in early July by means of standardized tests prepared by the education ministry.