Candidates before the elective exam for the 2025 high school graduation exam at the exam site of Le Hong Phong High School, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City. In 2025, the English exam will be one of the elective subjects, instead of being mandatory as before - Photo: NHU HUNG
After the 2025 high school graduation exam, many Tuoi Tre Online readers commented on the 'unusual' difficulty of the English exam. Readers' opinions on Tuoi Tre Online showed that this year's high school graduation English exam seemed to have far exceeded the average ability of high school students.
English graduation exam or international certificate?
"My child came home from the English exam crying," a reader named Diem's mother shared.
TC account expressed: "I challenge any high school student who doesn't take extra classes to get 8 points on this year's test. If there is one, then either that student has a good relative to tutor them or is a genius."
Many parents believe that the test does not need to be easy, but the test must be within the ability of the majority of students. "We do not need easy questions. But we certainly need to make the test so that the candidates can do at least 7/10," commented reader Cha Me .
Anh Vu account supports the difficult exam to classify abilities, but admits that this year's exam is "too much for high school students. If anyone gets a score of 10, it must be said that they are really good, equivalent to 9.0 IELTS".
Reader PH Saigon expressed his opinion: The test may be more difficult than previous years because it is an elective subject, but it still needs to follow the 12th grade program.
"With such questions, only students who have the opportunity to take extra classes can do well. Do students who follow the general education program have reached B2 yet, but the questions require C1 to get 8 points?", this reader wrote.
Reader Tran Quang Dinh commented: "Although it is an elective subject, not compulsory, if the questions are too difficult, it is understandable that candidates will 'cry out'."
Many readers also commented. "The teaching is on the ground (without extra classes, it's below ground), but the questions are up in the clouds," wrote reader H.Thuy .
Meanwhile, an account with email dauh …@hotmail.com said: "Foreign languages are not a subject to be puzzled about. Foreigners who study Vietnamese all their lives still may not fully understand it, so we should be more humane when giving English questions."
A reader named Khoi also pointed out the injustice when the English test was too difficult but subjects like physics and chemistry were easy, creating a big advantage for candidates in group A00 compared to group D01!
Innovation is not synchronized, students suffer enough?
On the other hand, some opinions say that the exam has approached international proficiency tests such as TOEFL and IELTS - which is welcome. However, this innovation is not consistent with current teaching methods.
Account Anh Thu Nguyen (who just achieved TOEIC 900) shared: "Even international tests like IELTS or TOEIC have different levels: easy, medium, difficult. But this test is long and complicated."
Reader Nam agreed that the topic is practical, no longer mechanical like "finding mistakes, finding accents" but placed in a teaching context that has not kept up, causing students to be "overwhelmed".
Thiem account said bluntly: "If exams are riddled like this, no wonder there's not a lot of extra classes."
A reader who is an English teacher said that the questions were beyond the ability of both teachers and students. "The questions were copied from foreign newspapers, the writing style was academic and polished, and there was too much difficult vocabulary" - this person wrote in all caps indignantly.
However, not everyone opposes difficult exams. A reader named ledu…@gmail.com believes that difficult exams to "properly assess learning ability" are necessary.
But we have to look back: "Have the teaching and learning methods caught up with the spirit of innovation?"
The 2020 Valedictorian account made a practical argument: "If the exam questions are difficult, the university entrance score will decrease accordingly. The important thing is to classify students, otherwise, if everyone can get a score of 9-10, what's the point?"
Agreeing, reader Nam supports strict screening: "Just make the questions really difficult to easily identify average and poor students. If you make the questions easy and everyone gets 9-10, then the good and the bad will be mixed up."
In response, reader Khai Phong called for a return to the original goal of the exam: "This is a high school graduation exam, not an international certificate exam. Please do it right, which is for students to graduate from high school."
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ban-doc-tranh-luan-ve-do-kho-de-thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-mon-tieng-anh-20250628101220051.htm
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