HCM CITY — Vietnamese educators are worried that the younger generation is turning its back on the country's traditional arts after seeing applications for traditional arts courses plummet this year.
The HCM City Theatre and Movie College this year saw only 27 candidates taking the entrance examination to enrol for cai luong (reformed opera). Only 11 passed.
The HCM City Conservatory saw 13 students apply for the traditional music course.
There is a fear that the minuscule number of applications will mean a dilution in the competition to get into courses and, thus, a dragging down of quality.
Pham Ngoc Doanh, deputy director of the conservatory, assured, however, that despite the small number of applicants, standards have not fallen since everyone admitted to the course already have exposure to traditional arts and musical instruments.
"Their love for the country's traditional arts is the biggest motivation for them," he added.
But other educators fear that the attraction of films is proving too strong for young people and dragging them out of traditional arts.
Phan Thi Bich Ha, principal of the city's Theatre and Movie College, said that many youngsters lured by TV serials and movies do not consider if they have acting talent.
"We tried to convince many students who had potential in traditional arts to study traditional music, but in vain," she added.
In this scenario, educators felt enrolment requirements, especially for traditional arts, must be tweaked to prevent talent from falling through the cracks.
Writer Le Duy Hanh said for traditional performing arts, students' main requirements are looks and voice; any deficiency in general knowledge can be addressed later.
"Let us look back at the history of Vietnamese arts. Hundreds of successful artists had low education." — VNS