Teaching and learning change according to the new program

The 2024-2025 school year is the first year that the high school graduation exam will be implemented according to the 2018 General Education Program. According to the draft regulations for the high school graduation exam recently announced by the Ministry of Education and Training, the exam has many changes compared to previous years. On that basis, high schools will adjust their teaching plans to meet the requirements of the new program.

Early determination of university admission combinations

Le Ngoc Thao Nhi, a student of class 12A8, Vo Thi Sau High School (Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City), said that the draft regulations for the 2025 high school graduation exam made her both happy and worried. “Because I set the goal of being admitted to Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, I boldly registered for the subject of Economic and Legal Education in the high school graduation exam. This is the first subject to appear in the graduation exam, so there are no reference exam questions from previous years, and exam preparation centers have not opened classes to teach this subject. But I think the difficulty will be an opportunity for those who are willing to invest and have the ability to self-study,” Thao Nhi expressed.

Students of Ernst Thalmann High School (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) during a Literature class on October 14. Photo: THU TAM

Anh Thu, a 12A1 student at Ernst Thalmann High School (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), plans to register for a university entrance exam combination of Math, Physics and English. The draft regulations for the 2025 high school graduation exam reduce the number of subjects compared to previous years. Students are allowed to register for 2 elective subjects in addition to the 2 compulsory subjects of Literature and Math, so Anh Thu determined her study goals early in grade 12. Anh Thu chose Physics and English for the high school graduation exam, then used the exam results for university admission. This female student believes that choosing subjects in the high school graduation exam helps students be more proactive in determining the university entrance exam combination, avoiding spreading out their studies, and investing in subjects that serve career orientation at university level.

Currently, high schools in Ho Chi Minh City have allowed 12th grade students to register for 2 elective subjects in the high school graduation exam, thereby arranging a suitable timetable for students' dual goals of both preparing for the high school graduation exam and using the high school graduation exam results for university admission. However, due to limited resources of teachers and facilities, schools prioritize graduation exams in subjects in the old curriculum, while very few schools organize classes for the 3 subjects that will appear for the first time in the 2025 high school graduation exam: Economic and Legal Education, Information Technology, and Technology.

Get familiar with the new exam format

Regarding the Literature subject, Ms. Tran Thi Thu Hien, Head of the Literature Department, Ernst Thalmann High School, informed that the 2025 high school graduation exam has a new point that the test materials are not in the textbooks. Therefore, students cannot "learn by heart" a work or author in the Literature program as before, but need to have a firm grasp of the characteristics of text genres and have test-taking skills to apply to any text.

Students of Marie Curie High School (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) in an English class on October 14. Photo: THU TAM

Regarding History, Head of the History Department at Ernst Thalmann High School, Nguyen Thi Xuan Huong, said that because they are given the freedom to choose subjects for the high school graduation exam, most students choose subjects that meet both the graduation exam and university entrance requirements. This year, the number of students choosing History has decreased by 1/4 compared to the previous school year, but the teaching requirements have not changed.

“The 2018 General Education Program allows high schools to choose from a variety of textbooks, so during the review process, teachers must proactively update their knowledge of all textbooks to ensure that students meet the program’s requirements. This year’s exam, in addition to multiple-choice questions like previous years, also includes true-false questions, so students need to get used to the new exam format to avoid confusion when taking the test,” said Ms. Xuan Huong.

Quick results from high schools in Ho Chi Minh City show that, in addition to the two compulsory subjects of Literature and Math, the elective subject with the largest number of students registering for the high school graduation exam is English. Explaining this, Mr. Nguyen Tan Sang, Head of the Foreign Language Group, Marie Curie High School (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City), said that because English is a compulsory subject in the 2018 General Education Program at the high school level, and is also present in most university entrance exam combinations, the number of students choosing this subject is quite large. According to the sample exam structure announced by the Ministry of Education and Training, the high school graduation exam in 2025 has a new point compared to previous years, which is focusing on students' reading skills.

Specifically, in addition to a reading passage on a current topic like previous years, this year's exam has an additional reading passage in the form of a common life text such as a sign, notice, advertisement, etc. In addition, the exam has a section requiring students to read and understand independent sentences, then rearrange them into a complete text. According to the draft of the new exam regulations, the high school graduation exam score only accounts for 50% of the high school graduation exam results for students, the remaining 50% is based on the assessment of the learning process of 3 years of high school, so students need to ensure all 4 skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English, not just focusing on one skill for the high school graduation exam.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan Huong, Head of History, Ernst Thalmann High School (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), students need to determine the subjects for the high school graduation exam early because the amount of knowledge in each subject is quite large, if they change the subjects at the last minute, it will be very disadvantageous for them. To determine the subjects for the graduation exam, students need to find out the university admission groups that have those subjects in order to have a suitable study plan right from the beginning of the 12th grade school year.

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Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/day-hoc-chuyen-minh-theo-chuong-trinh-moi-post763825.html