In the 2011-12 school year, of the 78,045 graduating ninth-graders, only 18,347 students, including 10,046 from provinces, enrolled at vocational schools in the city.

Nguyen Phan Hoa, principal of the Humane Job Training School in District 3, said his school, for example, has an enrollment quota of 600 for ninth graders who have completed junior high school, but only 300-400 students have registered for each of the past two years.

Students who fail to get admission to the 10th grade at public senior high schools will often choose private senior high schools instead of vocational schools.

"Vocational schools are their last choice," he said.

Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, deputy principal of the Binh Thanh Vocational Secondary School, said only 62 graduating ninth graders had enrolled at her school last year.

In the 2011-12 school year, of the 78,045 graduating ninth-graders, only 18,347 students, including 10,046 from provinces, enrolled at vocational schools in the city, according to the city's Department of Education and Training.

Nguyen Dac Hien, head of the training department of the Hung Vuong Technology Secondary School, said that about 20 per cent of the students who enrolled last year at his school had dropped out.

Under the current curricula, students who are at the 10th grade level must take both academic and job- training classes at vocational schools (except senior high school graduates who study at vocational schools).

Vocational school students who have not completed high school have to attend about 1,200 class sessions of maths, chemistry, physics and literature.

Hien said the students "were fed up with the curricula" .