To prevent students from 'randomly choosing' subjects in grade 10: Need advice from grade 9

Many opinions say that in order to effectively choose subjects at high school level, secondary schools also need to do a better job of counseling and career guidance for students instead of focusing too much on the 10th grade entrance exam.

Mr. Nguyen Cao Cuong, Principal of Thai Thinh Secondary School ( Hanoi ), said that right from the secondary school level, it is necessary to advise students on choosing subjects when they enter grade 10. The basis for choosing a study group is the student's ability, interests and the major or field they want to pursue at university; students need to find out which universities have that major and what groups they use for admission. "With the current connection and influence between groups, students also need to learn more and earlier than before," said Mr. Cuong.

Grade 9 students in a consultation session to choose their grade 10 exam wishes

PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH

Ms. Nguyen Boi Quynh, Principal of Viet Duc High School (Hanoi), shared that the new general education program at high school level has been implemented for the 4th year, and for 9th graders entering 10th grade, it is still new. "Therefore, students are hesitant in choosing subject combinations because they do not clearly understand the combinations, the subjects to choose from, and the topics to study. High schools will have to clearly advise parents and students on these issues before applying for admission to 10th grade," Ms. Quynh said.

Ms. Luu Thi Lap, Principal of Quang Trung High School - Dong Da (Hanoi), said: "In addition to organizing early consultation right after the announcement of admission scores for parents and students, the school deploys many consultation teams right at the school when parents come to register their children for admission so that parents and students clearly understand the purpose of choosing a combination of subjects with the goal of early career orientation."

At the end of 2024, the Association of Vietnamese Universities and Colleges sent a petition to the Minister of Education and Training, stating the reality: In principle, students are allowed to register to choose subjects according to their abilities, strengths and career orientation, but in reality, the right to arrange these subject combinations depends on each school, depending on the situation of teachers and facilities.

According to the association, many subject combinations selected by high schools may not be suitable for students' abilities, strengths and career orientations. This will lead to a decrease in the input human resources for natural sciences and the consequence is that the quality of basic sciences and STEM sciences will decrease in quantity and have a long-term impact on the quality of the system in the future. The immediate consequence is that teachers of natural sciences at high schools, especially biology and chemistry, do not have teaching hours and have to perform other tasks. There may also be cases where subject combinations have an overload of knowledge (for example, the combination of physics - chemistry - biology) so very few students register to study. This will not meet the country's human resource development needs in the coming period (for example, STEM human resources need to account for 35%).

Therefore, the association recommends that the Ministry of Education and Training urgently evaluate the entire program at all three levels of education, detect serious shortcomings and make immediate decisions to adjust. In the immediate future, the Department of Education and Training is required to direct high schools to review the list of subject combinations to choose from so that students have more opportunities to register for many university entrance exam combinations.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/de-hoc-sinh-khong-chon-bua-mon-hoc-lop-10-can-tu-van-tu-lop-9-185250729192434409.htm