'Crying' when no longer able to take the 6th grade exam

TPO - Many parents shared their disappointment and regret, some even burst into tears when the Ministry of Education and Training stipulated that from 2025, admission to grade 6 at secondary schools will only be by one method: selection.

TPO - Many parents shared their disappointment and regret, some even burst into tears when the Ministry of Education and Training stipulated that from 2025, admission to grade 6 at secondary schools will only be by one method: selection.

Study hard for the exam

Yesterday, the Ministry of Education and Training announced the Regulations on Secondary and High School Admissions, which stipulates that Grade 6 and Secondary School admissions from 2025 will be based on the selection method. In Hanoi, parents with primary school children planning to apply to high-quality secondary schools and prestigious private schools had an emotional day with shared opinions and debates.

Ms. Nguyen Quynh Nga in Tay Ho district (Hanoi) said that, determining the middle school route to send her child to take the exam to enter the high-quality CLC school in Cau Giay district or Nguyen Tat Thanh Middle - High School, she should invest money and effort to take her child to practice for the exam from grade 2.

“In previous years, my child regularly studied Math, Vietnamese, and English three times a week. When I entered 5th grade, I was worried that the competition would increase, so I doubled the number of classes, so my parents and children kept taking me to extra classes. Since the beginning of the school year, my child has not had a full weekend off, hoping that one day he will reap the fruits of his planting. Therefore, when I heard that the Ministry of Education and Training banned the entrance exam for 6th grade, I was so shocked that I burst into tears,” Nga confided.

Students take the entrance exam to grade 6 at a school in Hanoi in 2024.

According to this parent, she agrees with the plan to reduce pressure on primary school students and possibly stop the 6th grade entrance exam, but there needs to be a roadmap to avoid making sudden decisions for parents and students. If they knew in advance, families would not waste time and money on their children going through such difficult and arduous exam preparation.

On the forum for 6th grade entrance exams at high-quality schools, a parent also shared that she “cried” and had “a really long day” after hearing the news of the ban on 6th grade entrance exams. According to this parent, her child has been studying since 4th grade, working tirelessly at exam preparation centers to improve her level.

To achieve the goal, the family did not hesitate to find a good exam preparation class 9-10 kilometers away from home and after hasty meals, they "rushed to take extra classes". And also to serve the purpose of taking the entrance exam for 3 subjects to high-quality schools, this parent refused all exams that did not serve the purpose of transferring to a higher level. At this point, she believed that her child had accumulated a certain amount of "capital" to compete, so there was a regulation that only considered admission.

"My child was left empty-handed in the race to get into a high-quality school because he only focused on exam preparation and his application did not have any additional awards for admission this year," this parent shared.

Giving back childhood to primary school students

Besides parents who were shocked and indignant at the Ministry of Education and Training's "ban" on entrance exams for grade 6, many others agreed and supported it.

Ms. Pham Thi Phuong, in Cau Giay District, said that she would abandon the entrance exam to give her children a true childhood. Many parents are forcing the fruit to ripen unripe because their children have just left kindergarten and are now being tutored day after day. Ms. Phuong also had her child practice for 2 years in primary school to apply to Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary and High School.

“My child studied at a public school, and the results were all 9 or 10 points. I thought that if my child studied well, I needed to invest, so I put aside all my work to take my child to extra classes. For two whole years, it cost tens of millions of dong, the family did not have a full dinner, and most of all, my child studied very hard and was under a lot of pressure,” said Ms. Phuong.

Many other parents also believe that it is not worth wasting time reviewing the entire process because the knowledge children accumulate is very valuable for their future learning journey.

In 2014, the Ministry of Education and Training “banned” entrance exams for grade 6. At that time, non-public schools had more candidates registering for entrance exams than their enrollment quota, and high-quality secondary schools recruited students based on academic records. However, after a while, schools “complained” because they could not recruit quality students. Some schools added priority points for certificates of merit and awards. Some schools even used swimming competitions to add priority points for enrollment.

By 2018, the Ministry of Education and Training revised and supplemented the regulations on primary school admission, in which, in addition to the admission method, it also stipulated the following content: "In case an educational institution has more students registering for grade 6 than the enrollment quota, the Department of Education and Training will guide the implementation of the admission plan by admission method or combining admission with testing and assessing students' abilities".

This regulation is considered to “untie” high-quality schools and prestigious private schools. From there, schools will combine enrollment by considering primary school transcripts with testing and evaluating the ability of Math, Vietnamese, and English to enroll 6th graders.

It is worth mentioning that since then, the movement of extra classes and exam preparation for primary school students has been more popular than ever. The competition ratio in the entrance exams for grade 6 of schools is astonishing. For example, the Foreign Language Secondary School (Hanoi National University) has a competition ratio of 1/30. Or Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary School - High School also has an extremely high competition ratio.

Parents are told that students who want to pass the exam must follow the training program of teachers and centers as soon as possible. Therefore, primary school children have to study hard, day and night, even on weekends and holidays to compete. Some parents let their children take the exam at 4-5 schools at the same time to test their abilities.

Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Educational Psychology, once advised parents not to compete in entrance exams to specialized schools or high-quality schools. It would be appropriate if students have good abilities and need an environment and conditions to develop. But if parents follow the crowd, letting their children take extra classes and practice for exams, it will put great pressure on their children's physical and mental health.

“Parents need to remember that, in addition to providing cultural knowledge, children need time and space to play, practice sports, and other skills necessary for life,” said Dr. Tung Lam.

The Ministry of Education and Training explained that the principles for issuing the contents of the new circular do not put unnecessary pressure on parents, students and society. In addition, the content promotes comprehensive education activities, initially preparing students with the qualities and abilities to be qualified to study at a higher level.

Ha Linh

Source: https://tienphong.vn/bat-khoc-khi-khong-con-duoc-thi-lop-6-post1708049.tpo