Parents disappointed, worried about stopping enrollment for 6th grade at Ams school

Hanoi Hearing that the Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted might stop enrolling students this year, Ms. Mai Anh was restless all day, asking everywhere for verification.

"I was shocked. My child was also sad and disappointed because he had set the goal a long time ago," said Mai Anh, whose child is in 5th grade in Ha Dong district.

The mother said that her family wanted her child to take the entrance exam to grade 6 at Ams school (Ams2) as soon as she entered grade 1. Knowing that Ams2 has a strict selection process based on academic records for all 5 years of primary school, Ms. Mai Anh determined that her child needed to "study seriously" from the beginning.

During the first three years, the child focused on studying Math and participated in many Math competitions. While letting her child study, she also took the time to ask the teacher about her child's abilities, because after the report card round, the school also gave tests in Math, Vietnamese and English.

Seeing that the teachers gave her child good reviews, the mother sent her child to extra classes from grade 4, one session per week for each subject. The rest of the time, the child studied on his own and was tutored by his parents.

"Now I don't know if I can take the exam or not. All day long, I couldn't concentrate on work because I kept going to parent groups to listen for information," the mother shared.

Many parents share the same sentiment as Ms. Mai Anh. Ms. Thu Hong, Thanh Xuan district, is also worried about the news that Ams school has stopped recruiting 6th grade students.

Having a child studying in grade 9 at this school, she is satisfied because "her child gets to study with many good friends, good teachers, and reasonable costs". She believes that in an environment with many good students, her child will have the consciousness to "compete" with friends to study, and the teachers are all famous. Not to mention, her child is inspired by Ams3 seniors (grades 10-12) with many national and international awards, studying abroad everywhere, and many extracurricular activities. Meanwhile, the monthly tuition fee is 550,000 VND, meals are more than 800,000 VND, extra classes are 50,000 VND/session, optional. If staying at school at noon, the boarding fee is about 1.5 million VND more.

"It only costs about three million VND per month for food and tuition. This cost is super cheap for such quality," she said, adding that her child goes to school happily and studies well.

So, with the second child in 4th grade, the whole family decided to take the Ams exam. Knowing the "way to go", from 1st grade, her child took extra advanced Math and English lessons focusing on grammar. When 3rd grade was the acceleration stage, she took her child to take extra Vietnamese lessons, increased Math and English lessons with teachers who specialized in 6th grade exam preparation. She also supervised her child so that she did not miss any subjects in class, ensuring a good transcript for admission.

According to her, the lucky thing is that her child is also interested, studies hard, and has the goal of taking the Ams2 exam. "When we heard that recruitment might stop, both my parents and my child were full of enthusiasm and immediately lost interest," she said.

Secondary school students, Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, at the 2022 opening ceremony. Photo: School website — Secondary school students, Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, at the 2022 opening ceremony. Photo: *School website*

Ams2 was established in 1992. By 2009, it became a high-level secondary school training system, creating a source of specialized students for Hanoi, according to the decision of the City People's Committee. Each year, this system recruits 200 students, receiving about 3,000-5,000 applications. In an official dispatch sent to the Hanoi education sector a few days ago, the Ministry of Education and Training requested Hanoi to enroll students in specialized high schools according to regulations, because according to the 2019 Education Law, specialized schools are only established at the high school level, there are no secondary schools in specialized schools.

On forums for parents and students in Hanoi, this information received thousands of interactions within 1-2 hours.

Mr. Tran Nhat Minh, founder of MathExpress Math Club, said that the news that Ams2 might stop enrolling students was a surprise, not only to parents but also to teachers. Therefore, the disappointed and anxious reaction of many parents while waiting for official information is understandable.

Teachers assess Ams2 as an environment with many excellent students, demonstrated by the results of domestic and international academic competitions each year. If it is not possible to continue enrolling students, it may be a disadvantage for students with academic ability.

Meanwhile, Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Hong, principal of Chuong Duong Secondary School, Hoan Kiem District, understands that the Ministry's decision is "not unreasonable", but also regrets if Ams2 is stopped.

"Ams2 has always been a good environment, training many excellent students. I think it would be a waste if this system no longer exists," Ms. Hong commented.

While waiting for the official announcement, this principal advised parents to stay calm and always be ready to adapt to the changes.

According to her, the long preparation process for Ams2 also helps students have good foundational knowledge. Therefore, whether they attend this school or not, their knowledge will not be lost. This is the core and most important thing.

"Hanoi still has many high-quality public secondary schools, almost every district has one. The teachers there are also very good, and the tuition is cheap. So although we cannot deny the quality of Ams2's training, this is not the only choice," said Ms. Hong.

Yesterday, the leader of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training said that he had received a dispatch from the Ministry and would work with specialized agencies to research and propose a special mechanism to continue enrolling Ams2 students.

This is the wish and hope of Ms. Hong. The mother said that although Hanoi has many high-quality secondary schools, she is not satisfied with them. The reason is that the tuition fees for high-quality schools under the management of the districts are currently more than 3 million VND per month, not including food and other expenses. And to prepare for the entrance exam to a specialized high school, according to her, "the child will still have to take extra classes" so the cost will be higher.

"Thinking back and forth, I still can't find any middle school that has the advantages of reputation, quality and cost like Ams," the mother said.

Thanh Hang - Binh Minh

*Parents' names have been changed

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