No competition for excellent secondary school students: Opportunity to review educational goals

(Dan Tri) - What is the real value of the title of excellent junior high school student at the provincial level when it does not come with a worthy priority regime for entering grade 10?

* The article below is the sharing and perspective of Mr. Nguyen Van Luc, a retired teacher in Khanh Hoa.

The decision not to organize the provincial-level excellent secondary school student exam for the 2025-2026 school year by the Khanh Hoa Department of Education and Training has attracted attention as it has rekindled a long-simmering debate: The true value of the title of excellent student at the provincial/city level when it does not come with admission benefits.

The main reason for the suspension is to stabilize the organization, arrange the apparatus and prioritize mass teaching and learning after the province merger. However, although it comes from objective and local reasons, it raises a general question for the entire education sector.

On October 1, Khanh Hoa Department of Education and Training issued a document announcing that it would not organize the provincial-level excellent secondary school student exam for the 2025-2026 school year.

The reason is that after merging Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan into Khanh Hoa province (new), secondary schools have many changes in terms of school size, and their distribution is wide and uneven in communes and wards.

Therefore, the priority task in the 2025-2026 school year is to stabilize the organization, arrange the apparatus, organize mass teaching and learning, and put schools into regular operation.

According to the current regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training (Circular No. 03/VBHN-BGDĐT), students who win prizes at the provincial/municipal level are not eligible for direct admission to grade 10 of high school. Direct admission only applies to students who win prizes at the national and international levels.

Thus, excellent students from provincial/municipal junior high schools are not admitted directly to grade 10 of high school. Many opinions say that this is a disadvantage for students and lacks motivation to strive.

According to current regulations, excellent students at provincial/municipal secondary schools are not admitted directly to grade 10 (Illustration: Phuong Quyen).

Meanwhile, the good purpose of the provincial-level secondary school excellent student exam is to discover students with capacity, qualities, and talents, so that they can continue to be trained and nurtured to become high-quality human resources for the country in the future.

To achieve the title of excellent student of the province/city is a great effort of students and teachers. First, students must pass the examination to select excellent students at the commune level (formerly district level), then be trained by teachers to select excellent students at the provincial/city level.

These students have to go through a learning process with a large amount of knowledge, difficulty, and long training time. But in return, the reward for this effort is only a certificate.

From there, the question is whether we should continue to organize the provincial/city level excellent secondary school student competition every year as before?

There are also many opinions suggesting that the Ministry of Education and Training, if not allowing direct admission regulations, should also have a policy of adding points in the 10th grade entrance exam for students who won prizes in the provincial/city-level excellent student exam in cultural subjects in middle school.

Because this is a worthy recognition for the time and effort spent, and at the same time an effective measure to revive the excellent student movement.

These opinions believe that if the purpose of the provincial/municipal excellent student exam is to "discover students with capacity, qualities, and talents, to continue to train high-quality human resources", then maintaining motivation is of utmost importance.

Lack of policy priorities has seriously reduced students' motivation to participate. Many teachers admit that they are under pressure from the school to achieve good results, but they have to persistently "lobby" and "entice" each student to join the team.

Parents also do not care or are not enthusiastic about encouraging and supporting their children to take extra classes to compete in excellent middle school student competitions.

Mr. Nguyen Van Luc, author of the article (Photo: NVCC).

Personally, I was under a lot of pressure to have excellent students in the province when the school assigned me to train excellent students in history. Because right from the stage of selecting students to form the team, there were very few students who volunteered to join. The reason was that they were not admitted directly or given extra points in the entrance exam to grade 10.

Teachers must be patient in guiding, advising, and even “persuading” students to study and register to join the team. After that, teachers work hard to prepare for the exam, from encouraging them to reviewing, helping them gain enough knowledge and skills to compete and win prizes.

Having students win provincial-level excellent student awards is a source of pride and honor for teachers, students, schools and families. But in return, they only receive a certificate and that’s it.

Certificates of merit and certificates of excellent students at city level (Illustration: Huyen Nguyen).

From the above shortcomings, two streams of opinions and policy proposals were put forward to balance the goal of nurturing talent and reducing exam pressure.

The most common opinion is to have appropriate preferential policies such as direct admission or additional exam scores for grade 10.

More radically, there is a discussion about eliminating exams such as the excellent secondary school exam at the commune and provincial levels, as well as the 10th grade entrance exam, to reduce the pressure of exams for secondary school students.

The decision to suspend the excellent student exam in Khanh Hoa is a sign of flexibility in education management. However, it is also a reminder that, if policies are not aligned with the goal of nurturing talent, the education system will not be as effective as expected in discovering and nurturing real talent.

Therefore, relevant authorities also need to listen and make adjustments soon so that the title of excellent student is not only a wasteful pride, but a solid launching pad for the future of students.

Nguyen Van Luc

(Retired teacher in Khanh Hoa)

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/khong-to-chuc-thi-hoc-sinh-gioi-thcs-co-hoi-nhin-la-muc-tieu-giao-duc-20251003095723633.htm