Teaching is transforming to adapt to the new curriculum.

The 2024-2025 school year will be the first year the high school graduation exam is 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 will have many changes compared to previous years. Based on this, high schools will adjust their teaching plans to meet the requirements of the new program.

Determine the university admission subject combinations early.

Le Ngoc Thao Nhi, a student in class 12A8 at 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 aim to get into the 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 time this subject has appeared in the graduation exam, so there are no sample exam papers from previous years, and tutoring centers haven't opened classes for this subject yet. But I think the difficulties will be an opportunity for those who are willing to invest time and have the ability to self-study,” Thao Nhi expressed.

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

Anh Thu, a 12th-grade student from Ernst Thalmann High School (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), plans to register for a university entrance exam combination including Mathematics, Physics, and English. The draft regulations for the 2025 high school graduation exam reduce the number of subjects compared to previous years, allowing students to register for two elective subjects in addition to the two compulsory subjects, Literature and Mathematics. Therefore, Anh Thu set her academic goals early in her 12th grade year. She chose Physics and English for the high school graduation exam, and will then use the results for university admissions. This female student believes that choosing subjects for the high school graduation exam helps students be more proactive in determining their university admission combinations, avoiding scattered learning and focusing their efforts on subjects that will serve their career orientation at the university level.

Currently, high schools in Ho Chi Minh City have allowed 12th-grade students to register for two elective subjects in the high school graduation exam, thereby arranging timetables to suit the students' dual goals: preparing for the high school graduation exam and using the exam results for university admissions. However, due to limited teacher resources and classrooms, schools prioritize subjects included in the old curriculum for the graduation exam. The three subjects appearing for the first time in the 2025 high school graduation exam – Economics and Law Education, Informatics, and Technology – are rarely offered in these classes.

Familiarize yourself with the new exam format.

Regarding Literature, Ms. Tran Thi Thu Hien, Head of the Literature Department at Ernst Thalmann High School, informed that a new feature of the 2025 high school graduation exam is that the exam materials will not be found in the textbooks. Therefore, students cannot simply memorize a work or author from the Literature curriculum as before, but need to have a firm grasp of the characteristics of different text genres and possess the skills to apply them to any given text.

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

Regarding History, Nguyen Thi Xuan Huong, Head of the History Department at Ernst Thalmann High School, stated that because students have the freedom to choose their subjects for the high school graduation exam, most choose subjects that meet both the graduation exam requirements and university entrance requirements. This year, the number of students choosing History has decreased to one-quarter compared to the previous academic year, but the teaching requirements remain unchanged.

“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 students meet the program's learning objectives. This year's exam, in addition to multiple-choice questions like in previous years, also includes true/false questions, so students need to familiarize themselves with the new exam format to avoid surprises,” Ms. Xuan Huong said.

Initial results from high schools in Ho Chi Minh City show that, besides the two compulsory subjects, Literature and Mathematics, the most popular elective subject for the high school graduation exam is English. Explaining this, Mr. Nguyen Tan Sang, Head of the Foreign Language Department at 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 included in most university entrance exam combinations, a large number of students choose this subject. According to the sample exam structure published by the Ministry of Education and Training, the 2025 high school graduation exam will have a new focus on students' reading skills compared to previous years.

Specifically, in addition to a reading comprehension passage on current events like in previous years, this year's exam includes a reading passage in the form of everyday texts such as signs, announcements, and advertisements. Furthermore, the exam requires 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 will only account for 50% of the student's graduation assessment, with the remaining 50% based on the assessment of their learning process over the three years of high school. Therefore, students need to ensure proficiency in all four English skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—and not just focus on one skill for the high school graduation exam.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan Huong, Head of the History Department at Ernst Thalmann High School (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), students need to determine their high school graduation exam subjects early because the amount of knowledge in each subject is quite large, and changing the exam subjects at the last minute would be very disadvantageous for them. To determine their graduation exam subjects, students need to find out which university admission combinations include those subjects so they can plan their studies accordingly from the beginning of their 12th grade year.

MINH THU

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