The War on Public Schools

TP - Since when has the 10th grade entrance exam become a mind-bending battle for every parent? This question has no correct answer.

Just know that, when the child enters 6th grade, parents have to worry about finding a place to study extra, calculate, and choose so that 4 years later, the child has the opportunity to be admitted to a desired public high school.

Children go to school every day with the expectations and hopes of their parents, but also with the pressure of finding a place to study. Children go to school, but it is the parents who calculate where they will study.

For parents in the capital, finding a place for their children to study in grade 10 is like a game of chance. No one knows why in 2024, the standard score to enter Doan Ket High School in Hai Ba Trung district is only 23.75/50 points, down 16.25 points compared to 2023. If calculated, many parents will surely "bet the door" for their children.

And no one could have predicted that the benchmark score of Le Quy Don High School (Ha Dong) in recent years has jumped to the same level as the "five tigers" of Hanoi : Kim Lien High School, Phan Dinh Phung High School, Chu Van An High School, Tran Phu High School, and Viet Duc High School.

In the parents' brain race, just 0.25 points short can close all doors to public high schools because of the regulation that the second choice's standard score must be higher than the first choice. Calculations are sometimes "off", so every year parents are left scrambling to find schools and classes for their children.

The "magical" and "unintelligible" educational policies have left parents unprepared. In early 2024, parents were shocked when Hanoi Amsterdam High School for the Gifted stopped enrolling in 6th grade and 4 years of searching for a training center, all their plans for their children suddenly became meaningless.

At the end of 2024, parents were also surprised because Circular 30 of the Ministry of Education and Training did not allow secondary schools to enroll 6th grade students through entrance exams. While previously, in the draft Circular, the Ministry of Education and Training did not mention this content.

Parents are crying out, high-quality secondary schools and special secondary schools in big cities are also wondering and confused about how to enroll students when the number of candidates is many times higher than the quota.

Public opinion was stirred up, and leaders of many secondary schools had previously organized tests to assess response capacity. The information previously announced for 6th grade enrollment of these schools "suddenly stopped". The Ministry of Education and Training immediately took the stage, pushing the responsibility for enrollment guidance to the Departments of Education and Training.

Education needs innovation but also stability because of its impact on each family, each person and each generation. Among the localities that have announced the 10th grade enrollment plan, only 2 provinces do not organize entrance exams: Vinh Long and Gia Lai.

Perhaps, parents in these two localities are the happiest because they do not have to worry about where their children will study in public schools. Hopefully, when issuing policies, the management agencies will conduct research on the impact to reduce the already overwhelming pressure on parents.

Population pressure, pressure on post-secondary education, pressure on lack of schools and classes are placing heavy burdens on the shoulders of financially disadvantaged parents in big cities.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/cuoc-chien-truong-cong-post1717850.tpo