First time taking math test under new 'impossible to fail' program, what are candidates afraid of?

As the first year of structural innovation to suit the new program, this year's math test is divided into 3 parts: multiple choice test, true or false test and short answer test.

A candidate "checks in" before the high school graduation exam in math

PHOTO: NGOC LONG

According to information from the Ministry of Education and Training, the math test will have 3 parts with part 1 consisting of multiple choice questions, giving 4 options to choose 1 correct answer. For each correct answer, the candidate gets 0.25 points. Part 2 consists of 4 true/false multiple choice questions, all correct answers get 1 point (each question has a different score). The last part is 6 short answer multiple choice questions, for each correct answer the candidate gets 0.5 points.

With this new exam structure, some candidates told Thanh Nien that they "cannot completely lose" like in previous years' exams. This is a disadvantage, but also a point that helps differentiate more clearly the abilities of candidates.

At the Ban Co Secondary School (HCMC) exam site, Phi Minh Tuan, a student at Marie Curie High School (HCMC), said that the structure of this year's math exam has a high level of differentiation because it has many new sections such as short essays and multiple choice questions. "In particular, the short essay section does not require writing, we just need to fill in the answer in the form of numbers in the blanks," the male student shared.

Having taken part in the math competition on Casio calculators, Tuan believes that even if the exam structure changes, mathematical thinking and memorizing mathematical formulas will still be the key way to study for high scores, along with learning how to solve problems quickly on the calculator. According to the male student, the multiple choice test requires students to deeply understand the problem and use the correct data to solve it.

Cute moment of mother and daughter in front of the exam school gate

PHOTO: NGOC LONG

Agreeing with Minh Tuan, Phan Hoang Nhat Dang, a student at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School (HCMC), said that the multiple choice test would have the highest differentiation because "Each question is a long math problem, I have to solve it all to know if it's right or wrong, plus there's a special way of calculating points," the male student shared.

In this exam, Nhat Dang plans to focus on the questions that are “sure to score” and take less time first, such as multiple choice questions, and then do the questions with higher differentiation, such as true-false questions. Dang added that he has a “special strategy” of solving by hand instead of using a calculator, because “even though it takes a little longer, I am used to it so the correct rate will be more certain.”

Le Dien Thieu Tuoc, a student at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School (HCMC), confessed that he was most afraid of the short answer section because it had the most difficult questions. “Today, I prioritized doing the easy questions first, leaving the difficult ones for later. I hope to get a 7 in this subject,” said the male student, who plans to take the entrance exam for the mechanical engineering major at the University of Technology (Ho Chi Minh City National University).

Candidates entered the exam site in an excited mood.

PHOTO: NGOC LONG

This afternoon, June 26, candidates nationwide will take the high school graduation exam in math until 4 p.m. Tomorrow, June 27, candidates will take the optional exam (with the new program) and the natural science and social science exam (with the old program). By the afternoon of June 27, only candidates with the old program will continue to take the foreign language exam.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lan-dau-thi-toan-theo-chuong-trinh-moi-khong-the-lui-thi-sinh-so-phan-nao-185250626155701027.htm