More than 1,640 students who were accepted at the National University of Laos (NUOL) have failed to register, even though the new academic year started two months ago.

The main reason for the no-show is that students did not like the subject they were assigned to study.

NUOL Vice President Assoc. Prof. Dr Phetsamone Khounsavath told Vientiane Times on Tuesday the admissions office will now throw open these places to students whose scores fell below the set mark on the university entrance exam.

The university has now postponed the registration deadline until November 30. Some first-year students turned up for classes but did not register as they could not afford the tuition fees.

“If students don't register by this date they won't have another chance because we won't postpone the deadline again,” Assoc. Prof. Dr Phetsamone said.

He said the lower enrolment this year would not have much impact, but students studying in classes with very small numbers would be asked to switch courses.

“Many students want to study the same subject but we can't allow this because it goes against our policy to produce a broad range of graduates based on market needs for national development,” he said.

In the past, many graduates have been unable to find employment in their field while labour shortages persist in professions that are critical for socio-economic development, so the university took steps to address this issue.

Since its founding 15 years ago, this is the first year NUOL has been unable to hold regular classes due to the failure of large numbers of students to register at the start of the academic year.

T his year, NUOL is attempting to improve the quality of its programmes by reducing the number of students from 10,000 to just 7,300.

It has also stopped offering special courses so that lecturers have more time to prepare for their regular classes. There are also no evening classes.

Each of Laos' four universities held entrance exams on the same day this year for the first time. Scores were checked by a national committee in an effort to select only those students qualified to study at university. The rest will be encouraged to study at vocational schools.

The nationwide exam was another reason for the delay in the start of classes as it took some time to calculate the scores and then assign students a certain subject.

The university allocates subjects based on students' top five choices. Once the number of available positions is filled - based on test scores - the student's next choice of subject is considered. This process continues until a student is assigned a faculty.

But many students complained that they were placed in faculties they didn't like, leading them to think twice about accepting their place at university.

The most popular subjects are business administration, law, engineering and English. The most undersubscribed subjects are agriculture and Lao language.

By Times Reporters

Sourced from Vientiane Times