Unemployment rates in Vietnam are highest among college graduates, a Bloomberg report has found.

17 per cent of young people with university degrees are currently jobless.

That’s in stark contrast to the nation’s overall low unemployment rate which stands at 2.3 per cent.

With the country’s rapid industrialisation, Vietnam’s schools are doing well to prepare students for low wage factory work.

But Vietnam’s colleges and universities are failing to arm students with critical and organisational skills.

(Photo courtesy: Bloomberg)

Experts including a Stanford University development economist said unlike neighbours including Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, Vietnam had failed to develop high-quality colleges in time.

As a result, parents who can afford it send their children to overseas universities, including in Japan and Australia.

A college graduate interviewed by Bloomberg said his curriculum was too heavy on theoretical training and communist party history.

A spokesperson for the Vietnamese ministry of education acknowledged that the government was trying to improve the quality of training but that progress was slow.