15.5 point difference, school principal recruits 3 subjects with 10 points says: 'Not surprising'

TPO - The high school with the highest 10th grade admission score in Hanoi this year is 25.5, a difference of 15.5 points compared to the school with the lowest score (10 points), raising the issue of the difference in education quality between the inner city and the suburbs.

School "thirsty" for students

The announcement of the admission scores for grade 10 in Hanoi this year shows that there are 2 schools with the highest admission score of 25.5. The top schools have a difference in admission scores of 0.25 to 0.5 points and with a large number of students taking the exam, if the admission score is lowered by 0.25 points, hundreds more students will be admitted. Therefore, for many years, Hanoi has carefully calculated the admission score plan so as not to recruit additional students.

On the other hand, there are 5 schools that recruit 10 points for 3 exams, averaging 3.33 points/subject. Candidates can be admitted to these schools including: Ung Hoa B High School, Dai Cuong High School, Luu Hoang High School, Tho Xuan High School, Minh Quang High School.

This is also a group of schools in the top 10 schools with the lowest entrance scores in the city in 2024.

It is easy to see that schools with low annual benchmark scores are located in the suburbs and disadvantaged areas of the city.

This year, Luu Hoang High School was assigned by the Hanoi Department of Education and Training to enroll 495 students, but only 374 students registered for the first choice. Meanwhile, the number of students registering for the second and third choices, often called reserve choices, was up to 5,000.

Candidates taking the 2025 Hanoi 10th grade entrance exam. (Photo: Nhu Y)

For example, Ung Hoa B High School was assigned to enroll 540 students, but only 455 students registered for the first choice, and more than 2,000 students applied for the reserve choice.

In addition to the 5 schools that admit students with an average score of 3.33 points per subject, there are 6 schools that admit students with an average score slightly higher but “not much”. These include: Bat Bat High School, Ung Hoa A High School, Xuan Khanh High School…

Minh Quang High School (Ba Vi) has thousands of students applying for all admission wishes every year, but always struggles to enroll enough students.

This year, the school has an average score of 3.33 and last year the average standard score was 3.4, so they had to recruit all their wishes to meet the quota. Some students registered for their 2nd and 3rd wishes “just for show”, only a few students were admitted because the distance was too far.

There was a student who lived in the city, about a hundred kilometers from the school, but failed all his wishes and had to pack up and rent a room near the school to enroll.

The principal was not surprised.

Mr. Hoang Chi Sy, Principal of Luu Hoang High School, explained that the school's low admission scores for grade 10 are due to the characteristics of students in rural areas who do not have the conditions to study or take extra classes at centers like in the inner city. Many families are poor, their parents work far away, so their children's education is not given the same attention and investment as in many other places. Not to mention, students who study well and have families with conditions are allowed to study at central schools.

Mr. Sy also said: “It is not surprising that the entrance score is low. This year and many years ago, the school also had the lowest entrance score in the city.”

This year, the school has a standard score of 10 points for 3 subjects: Math, Literature, Foreign Language. Besides, there are also about 70 students with scores of 20 or higher and the student with the highest score to enroll in the school is 26.75 points.

Due to the lack of enrollment quota for the first choice, Luu Hoang High School “counts” on students from the inner city registering for the second and third choices to enroll. However, in reality, the number of students admitted to the second choice is only about 30%; the third choice drops to 5-7%.

After many years of working in admissions, the principal of this school is concerned about the fact that the number of students registering for their 2nd and 3rd choices is high, but most of them are virtual choices.

“The school is located on a road with a bus route. Students from Ha Dong and My Dinh can conveniently go to school, so even though the admission score is low every year, the school still meets the enrollment quota. Without buses, the enrollment problem would be even more difficult,” Mr. Sy shared.

The principal of another high school with a standard score of 10 points for 3 subjects said that the school was at a disadvantage because of the low quality of admissions. There were not enough quality sources of admissions, so teachers had to meet the quota, so after admissions, teachers had a very hard time.

“I assign teachers, despite low input, to still strive to improve student quality to ensure output results for the High School Graduation Exam. And for many years, the school has achieved a 100% graduation rate, many students achieved university entrance scores of 25-29 points, and were admitted to top schools,” said the principal of this school.

He raised the issue that when implementing the 2018 General Education Program, schools must ensure that the required goals are met for each subject and each student. The exam questions do not exceed the program but the student output results are too low, so secondary schools also need to "review".

Mr. Hoang Chi Sy also shared that although the student intake is low, but if the school wants to have good output results, it must have a plan to promote teaching quality right from the beginning of grade 10. The school improves the quality of the staff by training and providing professional training while assigning responsibilities to each teacher who must also be enthusiastic and support the students.

For example, for grade 12 last year, when Circular 29 was issued by the Ministry of Education and Training to strengthen the management of extra teaching and learning, teachers taught completely free of charge until the exam date so that students had the basic knowledge to take the graduation exam. The results of this exam in previous years, the scores of Natural Science subjects were among the top schools in the city.

The gap ineducation quality between schools in the inner city and in the suburbs and outlying areas has been recognized by the Hanoi Department of Education and Training and solutions have been sought. The department has organized a “diên hồng conference” with high school principals to share experiences and teaching methods of each school.

One of the solutions proposed is that schools must join hands to support each other in teaching methods, materials, training, etc. In particular, top schools in the inner city are assigned to tutor a school in the suburbs or difficult areas. Key teachers from Viet Duc, Kim Lien, Nguyen Trai, Nhan Chinh, Yen Hoa schools, etc. are brought to the schools to organize model teaching hours and share experiences in innovative teaching methods.

Hanoi currently has 119 public high schools, including a group of 12 schools with an average admission score for grade 10 of 7.9 points or higher and a group of 11 schools with an average admission score of 3.33 to 4.5 points. The school with the lowest admission score differs from the school with the highest admission score by up to 15.5 points, showing that the quality gap between schools is quite large.

Ha Linh

Source: https://tienphong.vn/chenh-lech-155-diem-hieu-truong-truong-tuyen-3-mon-10-diem-noi-khong-bat-ngo-post1759105.tpo