Need a roadmap?

According to the draft, candidates who do not have good academic records during their three years of high school will not be considered for admission to many majors in these two specialized training fields.

STRENGTHENING ADMISSION STANDARDS FOR TEACHER TRAINING AND HEALTH CARE

According to the draft, students need to have academic results in all three years of high school rated as good or higher, or a high school graduation exam score of 8 or higher, to be eligible for admission to teacher training programs and health-related fields that require professional certification. Prior to 2024, the Ministry of Education and Training only stipulated that the required threshold was an academic performance of "excellent" or higher in grade 12, or a high school graduation exam score of 8 or higher.

Students of Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy during a class.

Not only does the draft require an increase in the number of years of study, but it also stipulates a minimum admission threshold applicable to all admission methods. Meanwhile, the current regulations only require a minimum admission threshold for methods other than the high school graduation exam score. This means that if the draft is officially enacted, in 2025, regardless of the admission method, students will need to have achieved good academic performance for all three years of high school when applying to majors in the education and health sectors.

Some other fields within the two subject groups have lower entrance requirements, such as: physical education, music pedagogy, fine arts pedagogy; early childhood education at the college level; nursing, preventive medicine, midwifery, dental prosthetics technology, medical laboratory technology, medical imaging technology, and rehabilitation technology. Accordingly, the draft regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training stipulate that academic results in all three years of high school must be rated "good" or higher, or the high school graduation examination score must be 6.5 or higher.

Parents and candidates have concerns.

After the draft was released, many students and parents expressed concerns that this adjustment, if implemented, would have a significant impact on learners.

A parent commented to Thanh Nien Newspaper: "The Ministry of Education and Training plans to change university admissions in 2025, including regulations on entrance thresholds for medical training programs. The draft requires students to have good academic performance in all three years of high school to be eligible for admission. Some students who graduated from high school in previous years want to retake the entrance exam to apply for medical programs next year, but this will not be possible because they only focused on the three subjects for the university entrance exam. Applying this regulation to all students this year will disadvantage those who graduated in previous years. Perhaps it should only be applied to students starting 10th grade this year."

Another parent also expressed concern: "I read the draft amendment to the 2025 university entrance exam regulations and saw that students wishing to apply to certain teacher training and medical training programs must have achieved a 'good' or higher academic rating in all three years of high school, or have a high school graduation exam score of 8 or higher. I don't object to raising the standards, but I think there needs to be a suitable roadmap. If the Ministry of Education and Training wants to change this, they should inform students as soon as they enter 10th grade so they can prepare. Especially, if this new regulation applies to students who graduated from high school in 2024 or earlier but are retaking the university entrance exam for these teacher training and medical training programs, it would be unfair and disadvantageous to them."

Setting targets is necessary, but a gradual approach is recommended.

Mr. Le Phan Quoc, Deputy Head of the Training Department at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, supports the view that there should be an entrance threshold for the two specialized fields of study, as has been the case previously. However, Mr. Quoc also believes that the revision should be implemented gradually according to a suitable roadmap to ensure the safety of students who are prepared and those who are not yet prepared for the change. In fact, according to Mr. Quoc, the regulation of entrance thresholds for these two fields of study is not new; even the method of considering high school graduation exam scores in previous years already had a common threshold set by the Ministry of Education and Training. The introduction of this entrance threshold also needs to take into account the specific academic results of students according to the 2018 General Education Program.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Khoi, Head of the Training Department at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, also expressed concern if the draft regulation stipulates good academic performance in all three years of high school with the method of considering high school graduation exam scores. He argued that, historically, the method of considering graduation exam scores has had a minimum score requirement; students need to achieve a minimum score set by the Ministry of Education and Training to be considered for admission to the specified majors. In principle, there is no need for two barriers. Furthermore, according to Associate Professor Khoi, some students may focus on certain fields rather than all subjects, but these fields are necessary for pursuing the majors they excel in. Associate Professor Khoi believes that this condition is necessary for admission methods other than high school graduation exam scores, but needs further consideration for the method of considering only high school graduation exam scores.

Students from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy are guided through their internships at hospitals.

Master's degree holder Nguyen Hua Duy Khang, Deputy Head of the Training Department at Can Tho University, stated: "If this new regulation is applied immediately in 2025, many candidates will be affected compared to the regulations of previous years, which they have used as a basis for their study plans." Therefore, Mr. Khang proposed: "The Ministry of Education and Training needs to consider a suitable implementation roadmap for regulations that affect the rights of students who have been preparing since entering 10th grade."

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, Vice Rector of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, proposed: "Any regulations issued, if they change from before, need time to be implemented to avoid affecting candidates. Therefore, perhaps in 2025, the entrance threshold should still be based on good academic performance in grade 12, and the scope should be expanded to include good academic performance in grades 11 and 12 for the 2026 admissions year, and the requirement should be for good academic performance in all three years of high school for 2027."

According to Dr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, the draft should also consider raising the entrance requirements for teacher training programs. Given the current teacher shortage in many localities, raising the standards too high for teacher training programs will create significant difficulties for the teaching workforce in the future if better policies for this group are not implemented.

High school students are classified as having good academic performance under the new, more challenging high school curriculum.

From a high school perspective, the principal of a high school believes that, according to the assessment method of the 2018 General Education Program, if conducted seriously, it would be more difficult for a student to be classified as having good academic performance at the high school level compared to the previous assessment method. However, he still believes that the regulation requiring good academic performance for candidates applying to teacher training programs and health-related fields that grant professional licenses is necessary.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/dieu-kien-xet-tuyen-vao-nganh-su-pham-suc-khoe-can-lo-trinh-thuc-hien-185241209211415952.htm