By the end of February, the plan for entering 6th grade has not been finalized, parents are restless.

Many parents whose children are about to enter grade 6 in the 2025-2026 school year are stopping to consider the enrollment methods of top middle schools in Hanoi.

Over the past few months, Ms. Phan Thi Thuong (40 years old, Ha Dong, Hanoi) has always been in a state of anxiety, regularly visiting school websites to wait for information on 6th grade enrollment for the 2025-2026 school year according to new regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training .

With the goal of entering grade 6 at Cau Giay Secondary School, Thanh Xuan Secondary School, and Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary School, from grade 2, she spared no expense or effort in investing in her child to compete in extra classes with excellent teachers, famous for their expertise in reviewing for entrance exams to key schools.

For the past 4 years, in addition to class time, she has accompanied her child to all extra classes, with a tight schedule of 7 evenings/week. After finishing the extra class each evening at the center, the child has 1 hour to rest, have dinner and then continue to sit at the desk to study. Such hard training is with the hope that the child can step into the school of his dreams.

Ms. Phan Thi Thuong and her son practice test at home.

In early January, the Ministry of Education and Training issued new regulations for secondary school exams, including the decision not to hold entrance exams for grade 6, leaving her confused and unsure about how the entrance exams to top schools would take place. It is now near the end of February, but the schools have yet to finalize their admission or exam plans.

Preparing a backup plan, she has registered her child to take the entrance exam to Ngoi Sao Secondary School this weekend. However, she hopes that the Hanoi Department of Education and Training and secondary schools will soon announce the admission plan, keeping the form of the three subjects Math, Vietnamese, English and the review of academic records as in previous years stable, to avoid causing disruption to students.

Sharing the same goal of having her child take the entrance exam to grade 6 at Cau Giay and Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary Schools, Ms. Do Mai Anh (38 years old, Cau Giay, Hanoi) is sitting on hot coals, waiting for the schools' enrollment plans. At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Training's regulation prohibiting teachers from giving extra classes, and the suspension of review classes has made her and many other parents even more confused.

“I hope that high-quality schools and specialized secondary schools will soon announce their admission methods so that families can have orientation and plans to accompany their children during the transition process,” Ms. Mai Anh shared.

Representatives of high-quality secondary schools in Hanoi such as Cau Giay Secondary School, Thanh Xuan Secondary School, Nam Tu Liem Secondary School, and Le Loi Secondary School all said they have not announced their enrollment plans yet because they are waiting for the city's general enrollment plan.

Dr. Pham Sy Cuong, Principal of Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary and High School, informed that in the 2025-2026 school year, the school will continue to propose enrolling 6th grade students based on competency assessment like previous years. After receiving approval from the leaders of Hanoi National University of Education, the school will soon announce the enrollment plan and time.

On December 30, 2024, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular 30 stipulating that from 2025 onwards, admission to grade 6 of junior high school will be conducted by selection. For "special" schools with a larger number of applications than the quota, the Department of Education and Training must develop a set of selection criteria applicable to all schools.

Parents accompany their children to practice for grade 6 admission to top schools.

As soon as the circular was issued, many parents in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were concerned that with top schools, the large number of applications would make it difficult to ensure fairness in admission selection if only admissions were held, because many people were concerned about the situation of embellishing academic records.

Responding to concerns from parents and the public, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Director of the Department of Secondary Education (Ministry of Education and Training) said that in addition to the admission method, the Department of Education and Training of localities can develop a separate set of criteria applicable to schools with a higher rate of registration than the assigned quota. In particular, it is possible to organize direct assessment of students in many forms: question and answer, writing, presentation, practice, experiment, academic records, products, student activities or tests, capacity assessment.

For secondary schools with a large number of registered candidates, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City allows admission based on a combination of two criteria: training and learning results in primary school years and the results of the capacity assessment test.

The remaining secondary schools conduct admission based on training and learning results at the primary level and use data from GIS maps to serve student allocation.

Hong Thu

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/cuoi-thang-2-van-chua-chot-phuong-an-vao-lop-6-phu-huynh-dung-ngo-khong-yen-ar926446.html