Drawing lots for the third exam subject to avoid biased learning proves that management is still weak.

According to the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Training, the 10th grade entrance exam from 2025 onwards will include 3 subjects including Math, Literature and one subject randomly drawn by the Department of Education and Training from the remaining subjects in the new general education program (Foreign Language, Civic Education, Natural Sciences, History - Geography, Technology, Information Technology, Physical Education, Arts).

The third subject must be announced by the Department of Education and Training on March 31 every year, about 3 months before the 10th grade entrance exam. Immediately after this proposal was made, it received many opposing opinions.

The proposal to draw lots for a third exam subject for grade 10 is receiving mixed opinions (Illustration photo)

Ms. Nguyen Phuong Ly, a Literature teacher at a secondary school in Hanoi, said that since the information about the proposal to draw lots for the third exam subject for grade 10, both students and teachers have been very worried and nervous. Ms. Ly said that when switching to the new general education program, the testing and assessment methods have changed a lot, even with the Literature subject, the materials will be outside the textbook program, requiring students to know how to apply the skills they have learned to solve problems. Normally, the entrance exam for grade 10 will take place in June every year, but up to this point, the exam plan is still a mystery, causing anxiety and nervousness for students.

This teacher believes that the Ministry needs to quickly finalize the 10th grade admission plan in 2025: “The exam plan needs to be unified from the previous school year, so that students have 1 year to prepare, mentally prepare to study and review. The 10th grade entrance exam in localities is more difficult every year than university admission, because students do not have many choices, the competition ratio and level of competition are high, so many students have to prepare for this exam from grade 7, grade 8, not until grade 9”.

According to Mr. Tran Manh Tung, a math teacher in Hanoi, drawing lots for the third exam subject creates unnecessary pressure and stress for students: “The 10th grade entrance exam is already stressful because of choosing the school first and then taking the exam later, due to the competition rate, because candidates register by region… Many people think that this exam is more stressful than the university entrance exam. Drawing lots for the exam subject has an element of luck, passive imposition and creates stress for students. In reality, in the years when this method is applied, in the second semester, there are predictions and a mentality of waiting for the exam subject announcement, causing distraction and difficulty for teaching and learning for both teachers and students.”

In addition, Mr. Tran Manh Tung also commented that the drawing of lots for the third subject will create unfairness and bias between natural sciences and social sciences. Moreover, the drawing of lots for the subjects of the local exams in recent years has not been carried out publicly, lacking a basis for the selection of subjects. Meanwhile, reality has proven that in localities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and many other localities, the annual exams for the three subjects of Math, Literature, and English are very stable, the high school graduation exam results of these provinces are still high, among the top in the country. In particular, at this time, some localities have announced that they will take the three subjects of Math, Literature, and English, if the drawing of lots for the third subject is still carried out, it will create disruption in the teaching and learning plan.

Regarding the concern that students will not study regularly if they do not take exams, Mr. Tung said that the new general education program requires the learning process to meet the goals and requirements of capacity, quality, and attitude. The learning process has regular and periodic assessments, which have an opposite impact on teaching and learning. Schools and administrators have plans to check the implementation of the program during the school year, without having to wait until the exam subjects are announced.

“If we still think that students have to study by taking exams, it will create a coping mentality. In many places, students will study half-heartedly, waiting for the exam subjects to be announced, or when they are announced, they will only study for the exam. This way of studying does not meet the requirements of the new general education program, which focuses on assessing students' abilities. The new program does not have the concept of not taking exams, so they do not study. Announcing the exam subjects late to avoid lopsided learning shows that management is still weak,” said Mr. Tung.

According to teacher Tran Manh Tung, if the draw is for History and Geography or Natural Sciences, the actual number of subjects candidates will have to take will still be 4-5 subjects, not 3.

In particular, it is necessary to distinguish clearly between graduation exams and entrance exams. Graduation exams do not require any type of candidates, but entrance exams require taking from high to low, while not all candidates are good at all subjects.

Therefore, this teacher proposed that there should be fixed exams for the three "backbone" subjects: Math, Literature, and English, which are required for all high school students. Or the most ideal option is that each student has the right to choose the third exam subject, because when they enter high school, they will be able to choose the combination to study. However, with this option, organizing exams and building a test bank will hardly meet the requirements.

From the above analysis, teacher Tran Manh Tung believes that the final plan of 3 subjects Math, Literature, English is still the most suitable.

Source: https://vov.vn/xa-hoi/boc-tham-mon-thi-thu-3-de-tranh-hoc-lech-chung-to-cong-tac-quan-ly-con-yeu-kem-post1128888.vov