The race to enter grade 6 is tense.

TP - University admissions are not as stressful as admissions to 6th grade at quality schools in big cities. To get a place at these schools, behind the scenes is a silent and arduous race of parents.

Don't blame the parents

While his classmates were on summer break, NAQ was taken by his mother to take the entrance exams for grade 6 at 3 schools recently. AQ took the exam at Thanh Xuan Secondary School, Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary School & High School, and just finished the exam at Cau Giay Secondary School. These are 3 secondary schools with high competition ratios, for example, Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary School has a ratio of 1/18, Cau Giay Secondary School has a ratio of 1/7. Taking many exams in a short period of time made Q quite tired.

Students participated in the capacity assessment for admission to the Gifted Secondary School ( Hanoi National University of Education) recently. Photo: Nghiem Hue.

Recently, in addition to the above 3 secondary schools, in Hanoi, some other schools also organized capacity assessments to enroll 6th graders such as Foreign Language Secondary School (University of Foreign Languages, Hanoi National University), Gifted Secondary School (Hanoi Pedagogical University), Nam Tu Liem Secondary School (Nam Tu Liem), Le Loi Secondary School (Ha Dong), Nguyen Gia Thieu Secondary School (Long Bien), Luong The Vinh Secondary & High School (Cau Giay, Thanh Tri)... The frequent appearance of exams makes parents want their children to participate as much as possible to increase their chances of being admitted.

To have a chance to be admitted to these schools, parents must find extra classes for their children from the first years of primary school. Ms. Hoang Thi Hai Yen, Hoang Mai, Hanoi shared that if they do not find teachers to train them, it will be difficult to pass the capacity assessment exams organized by secondary schools. Each school has a different test format, so students can be admitted to one school and fail another, and there are no exceptions for excellent students who are admitted to many schools at the same time. Ms. Yen said that only those involved can understand the arduous journey of finding a place to study and taking their children to school. "The 6th grade entrance exam, besides the students' abilities, is essentially a race between parents. A race in which whoever finds a good teacher will pass, the rest is luck," Ms. Yen said.

Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, Chairman of the Board of Dinh Tien Hoang High School (Hanoi), former Chairman of the Hanoi Educational Psychology Association, was very concerned when the method of admission by examination and considering academic records forced students to take extra classes and practice for exams from a young age, putting great pressure on the children. Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam said that the current "chaos" in the entrance exams from grades 6 to 10 in Hanoi comes from the lack of schools and the uneven quality of education among institutions. The phenomenon of education quality being invested in the "xoi do" style (high-quality public middle and high schools) is putting pressure on parents and students. In general, parents always want their children to study at good, high-quality schools to have career opportunities in the future, so parents cannot be blamed for competing to get into specialized schools and selective classes.

Worry about "finding a place to stay"

In addition to the heat of high-quality schools that have to compete for admission, famous (quality) public secondary schools in Hanoi also receive the attention of many parents. These schools have 2 advantages: low tuition fees (no tuition fees next year), quality equivalent to high-quality secondary schools (tuition fees are many times higher even though they are public schools). But the quota for students who are not in the designated area is small. In each district of Hanoi, there are 1 or 2 public secondary schools that are always the destination of many parents. For example, Hoan Kiem district has Ngo Si Lien Secondary School, Trung Vuong Secondary School; Cau Giay district has Nghia Tan Secondary School, Le Quy Don Secondary School; Ba Dinh district has Giang Vo Secondary School; Dong Da district has Dong Da Secondary School... In these schools, it is difficult to study in the designated area, and getting into the desired class is no less difficult for parents.

According to the plan, from the 2026-2027 school year, Hanoi will apply the admission of preschool, grade 1 and grade 6 students based on the criteria that students can study at schools near their residence. Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training Tran The Cuong affirmed that this policy helps students study near their homes, minimizing the situation of crossing school lines, especially in border areas, where students are just a few steps away from the school but are not admitted (due to administrative boundaries). Thus, this policy does not divide admission routes according to household registration as at present but according to residential areas.

Parents agree and support this policy. Ms. Le Thi Huu (Thanh Tri) said that in the near future, her daughter will be able to study at Tu Hiep Secondary School right next to her house without having to worry about going to the wrong school district. If the school district is assigned based on permanent residence, Ms. Huu's child will study at Mau Luong Secondary School, Ha Dong.

Previously, Ho Chi Minh City had implemented this model and it was effective. However, in reality, its limitations were revealed. There was a situation where schools near home were overloaded, students were routed to study very far away. Many schools in the central area, which already had a large number of students, could easily be overloaded if students were concentrated in the same place. Although the policy was to study near home, if parents wanted their children to study at "famous" schools, the pressure would be great, especially when expanding to two sessions/day.

Currently, the enrollment based on household registration has been "running for household registration". Near famous schools, suddenly a series of children and relatives come to live or many people come to rent houses.

Associate Professor Dr. Tran Thanh Nam, Vice Principal of the University of Education (Hanoi National University), said that it is necessary to propagate so that parents no longer have the mentality of choosing schools and "running" for schools. In addition, it is necessary to increase investment and upgrade the technology system to support online enrollment; develop a reasonable route plan, ensuring harmony between people's wishes and the actual conditions of each locality.

Nghiem Hue

Source: https://tienphong.vn/cang-thang-cuoc-dua-vao-lop-6-post1752173.tpo