Surprise and anxiety

Surprise and worry were my feelings when reading the admission regulations for grades 6 and 10 that the Ministry of Education and Training had just issued.

Circular No. 30/2024/TT-BGDĐT of the Ministry of Education and Training signed on December 30, 2024, on promulgating the Regulations on Admissions to Secondary and High Schools. Those who "wait" for the news the most like us had to wait 10 days to read it. Halfway through, I was surprised and worried. Not only me, many people asked and expressed their worries, so I would like to share a few things before "overcoming thousands of obstacles" with everyone.

Admissions: History of "beautifying" academic records and competing for awards repeats itself

From 2018 to now, there have been two methods of admission to grade 6: selection or a combination of selection and capacity assessment test (if the number of registered students is more than the enrollment quota). This regulation is suitable for reality, overcoming the difficulties of special schools such as private schools, high-quality schools that do not have enrollment zoning and have too many registered students: 1 "competes" 5, 1 "competes" 10, even in some places 1 "competes" 20...

Completely ending the entrance exam for grade 6 at special schools has made many people worry about a repeat of the situation of beautifying academic records.

In the latest draft of the Ministry, the two methods of admission to grade 6 are still maintained as in recent years. When the official regulations were announced, everyone was surprised to read the official text of Article 4, Clause 2: "Admission to secondary schools is carried out by the selection method". Thus, there is no longer a direct assessment of capacity to select students for grade 6, even though the number of students registering is many times higher than the enrollment quota.

The regulations stipulate admission criteria as specifically guided by the Department of Education and Training. But what is the basis for determining admission criteria, if not based on academic records and some "achievements" in cultural, artistic, and sports exams...?

Recently, the Ministry of Education and Training has restricted university admissions based on high school transcripts. Why? The most convincing answer is none other than the Ministry of Education and Training. Elementary school transcripts are even "more obscure" than high school transcripts, more than 90% are excellent.

I asked a person who organizes international math competitions for primary school students and learned how the awards are ranked: Gold medals in the top 5%, silver medals in the top 15%, bronze medals in the top 30%. Each time there are tens of thousands of candidates taking the exam and thousands of them win medals.

This school year, instead of "studying for exams", parents will "race" to make good academic records and medals of all kinds to get a place in a "high-quality" school, a "hot" school... Will the 6th grade entrance exam in that situation achieve what is desired: fairness, objectivity, and transparency?

In fact, previously (2015 - 2017), the Ministry had "banned" entrance exams for grade 6. But the situation in big cities like Hanoi , Ho Chi Minh City, etc. was complicated. Therefore, since 2018, the Ministry has amended the regulations to have an additional method of "competence assessment test" combined with admission.

Commenting on the newly issued regulations, a reader of Thanh Nien Newspaper wrote: "The Ministry should let the department decide for itself because the characteristics of each locality are different. Hanoi is not like Cao Bang, Ho Chi Minh City is not like Ca Mau ." I agree.

Third exam for grade 10: Just choose a 3-year foreign language first?

There have been many comments on the 10th grade admissions, and the Ministry of Education and Training has made many adjustments. Most notably, the proposal from Ho Chi Minh City is to stabilize the exam on 3 subjects: math, literature, and foreign language.

The official regulations stipulate that the exam consists of 3 subjects: math, literature and the third subject and exam is selected from among the subjects that are evaluated by scores in the General Education program at the lower secondary level, ensuring that the same subject and third exam is not chosen for more than 3 consecutive years; the third subject and exam is announced after the end of the first semester but no later than March 31 every year.

Thus, regarding the third exam, the official regulations compared to the draft are a bit more stable (3 consecutive years) and are allowed to be announced 2 months earlier (January instead of March).

After the official regulations were issued, Ho Chi Minh City announced that the third exam subject in 2025 would be foreign language. It is very likely that the next two years (2026, 2027) will also be foreign language. The third exam subject should be stable for 3 years first. Who knows, the Ministry may later amend the regulations for long-term stability. In my opinion, other localities should follow Ho Chi Minh City's example.

Today, a reputable newspaper surveyed its readers: What is your opinion on the Ministry of Education and Training's choice of a third exam subject? Result: 25% agree, 7% disagree, 68% should stick to English.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/quy-che-tuyen-sinh-lop-6-lop-10-bat-ngo-va-lo-lang-185250109083043926.htm