Spending hundreds of millions on exam preparation for their children, parents worry that Amsterdam school will stop recruiting 6th graders.

Since reading the information that the Ministry of Education and Training requires specialized high schools to stop enrolling 6th grade students for the 2024-2025 school year, Ms. Tran Thi Lan (born in 1985, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi) has been restless. Over the past 3 years, she has invested hundreds of millions of dong in extra classes and tutoring for her child with the goal of passing the entrance exam to the Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted.

Starting when her child was in 3rd grade, every week she regularly let her child take extra classes in 3 subjects: Math, Vietnamese, and Foreign Language, an average of 6 sessions/week, regardless of rain or shine.

“Following the advice of colleagues, the earlier we start studying, the higher the passing rate will be. My husband and I also try to save money for our child to take extra classes. The tuition for one month of extra classes is equal to my entire month's salary as an office worker,” said Ms. Lan.

Each lesson costs an average of 300,000 VND, 24 lessons per month, costing about 7.2 million VND. The cumulative average annual investment for extra lessons for children is about more than 80 million VND.

Thus, since grades 3, 4, and 5, her family has invested nearly 300 million VND, not including the cost of reviewing advanced classes during this final stage to prepare for the entrance exam to grade 6 at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted.

Parents and students are worried about the announcement of stopping enrollment in 6th grade at specialized schools. (Illustration photo)

Ms. Lan assessed that with her child's academic ability, she could completely enter public schools without having to study. This extra study is mainly to serve the entrance exam to Hanoi - Amsterdam High School.

"In some chat groups, parents also advise to find the right exam preparation class taught by teachers who are currently teaching at the school. This will be more reputable, have a higher passing rate, and teach exam preparation closely. Of course, this also means that the tuition fee will be twice as expensive," said this parent.

In the 2023-2024 school year, students who wanted to be admitted to the 6th grade of the Hanoi - Amsterdam Specialized School had to pass strict requirements such as having 5 years of primary school with excellent completion of learning and training tasks. They could not have more than 2 9s in 5 years in all subjects. Understanding this criterion, last year Ms. Lan closely monitored her child's studies to ensure good grades in each semester.

Ms. Lan and her husband have been doing ideological work for their children since they were young, their only tasks are to eat and study, after school they go to the center to study, after finishing the class at the center they go home to study by themselves. She also admits that recently they have forced their children to study too much, leaving little time for rest and entertainment.

“Having spent so much time and money, my husband and I feel pressured. Seeing our child study so much, we feel sorry for him, but for his future, the whole family encourages each other to try a little harder. The child tries to study, the parents try to earn money,” she said.

Since learning that the Ministry of Education and Training has requested to stop recruiting 6th grade students for specialized schools, she has always had her phone in hand to update the latest information. "The application is almost ready, if it changes now, all our efforts will be in vain," Ms. Lan can only wait for the school to speak up.

In recent years, the enrollment target for grade 6 at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted is usually 200 students, but the number of students eligible to take the entrance exam is often more than 4,000. This means that a student will have to compete with at least 20 other students to get a place in this school.

Thanks to the experience of his eldest son, for his second son, Mr. Nguyen Van Hung (born 1973, Ha Dong, Hanoi) prepared his application early, not afraid to find a good teacher, high tuition for his son to review. He is also confident that his son's application will pass the first round of the preliminary exam to enter grade 6 at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted.

Starting from 2nd grade, in addition to regular school time, he invested in extra classes for his children in Math, Vietnamese, and Foreign Languages, each subject 2 sessions/week.

He has been practicing and following the test questions of these subjects with his children for many years now. He thinks the test questions are very difficult, and if he doesn't prepare early, it will be difficult to pass.

"Everything was ready, but when the Ministry of Education and Training requested to stop enrolling students for grade 6 at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, my family was shocked and regretful. It was a pity because of the amount of money invested in my child's review classes over the years, and partly because this is a school with a long history and good training quality, proven through many generations of students," said Mr. Hung.

Regarding some opinions that the junior high school system in specialized schools should be maintained as before, the leader of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training said that the unit is developing a plan for enrollment at the beginning of the new school year 2024 - 2025, focusing on research and consulting so that the city can propose a special mechanism with appropriate solutions in enrollment in specialized schools, especially for grade 6.

So, whether the secondary school system in specialized schools is really 'erased' or not is still an open answer that many parents are concerned about.

The secondary school system of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted (often referred to as "Ams2") was established in 2009 by the decision of the City People's Committee. Since then, the enrollment (planning, preliminary selection, exam organization, exam questions, grading...) into grade 6 at Amsterdam School has been organized by the Hanoi Department of Education and Training.

Every year, the Amsterdam school's 6th grade exam recruits about 200 students. This is a notoriously difficult exam with extremely strict requirements right from the application round. After passing round 1, candidates will continue to participate in the competency assessment test (round 2) with questions at a high level of application.

Hieu Lam

Source