Ho Chi Minh City is suffering a waste of state budget this year as thousands of teachers, who were given a free education at local state-owned pedagogical universities, cannot find a job in city public high schools.

The Department of Education and Training said it has finished recruiting teachers for these schools and only one-sixth of the applicants made it through the selection process.

It has declined around 2,500 out of 3,000 applications, the department elaborated.

T., a physics teacher, complained she is now unemployed as she could not find a job with such a high selection rate.

Things will become even worse for T., as a private school has already rejected her application for a houseparent job.

“I’ll work at a factory in a certain industrial park while waiting for another opportunity next year,” the unwaged woman said.

Her peer L., a history teacher, suffered through the same ordeal and now earns a living by working 12 hours a day as a houseparent at a private school.

“I can do nothing but wait until next year when the department recruits again,” she said.

As for N., a civics teacher, he is not sure about his future after being turned down by the local education department.

“I have no idea where my career will go, whereas some of my friends have switched to another field for a living,” he lamented.

Poor supply-demand forecasts are to blame in this case, according to an academic affairs official at Saigon University.

“The trainers and employers should frequently consult one another,” he said.

“In a broader sense, this problem should be addressed with a long-term vision and at the macrocosmic level, for education departments and pedagogical schools alone will be unable to solve it in a day or two.”

In Vietnam, pedagogy majors are exempt from tuition when enrolling in public universities.