We propose a review of the teaching and examination methods for elective subjects.

The Association of Universities and Colleges has recently sent a document to the Minister of Education and Training, Nguyen Kim Son, proposing a review of the teaching and examination methods for elective subjects, including the implementation of the 2018 general education program, the organization of the high school graduation exam, and university admissions from 2025.

Many subject combinations at the high school level are unsuitable.

The document states that, in principle, students are allowed to register for elective subjects based on their abilities, aptitudes, and career aspirations, but in reality, the power to arrange these subject combinations rests with each school, depending on the number of teachers and facilities available.

The Association of Universities and Colleges has petitioned the Ministry of Education and Training to review the methods of organizing teaching and examinations for elective subjects.

Requiring high school students to choose elective subjects from the beginning of high school, and making it difficult to adjust their choices later in life, means forcing students to establish their specialization early on.

On the other hand, students have not received adequate career guidance at the lower secondary level to choose subjects at the upper secondary level, and then decide which higher education institution to apply to (while universities have not yet announced their admission plans), which is a very unreasonable demand.

Many elective subject combinations established by high schools may not be suitable for students' abilities, aptitudes, and career aspirations. This leads to a decline in the number of incoming human resources in natural sciences , and consequently, a decrease in the quantity and quality of basic science and STEM fields, with long-term impacts on the quality of the education system in the future.

According to the Association, the immediate consequence is that high school science teachers, especially biology and chemistry teachers, will have no teaching hours and will have to perform other duties.

It is also possible that some subject combinations have an overloaded workload (for example, physics - chemistry - biology), resulting in very few students registering for them. This would fail to meet the country's future workforce development needs (for example, STEM workforce needs to account for 35%).

Therefore, this Association recommends that the Ministry of Education and Training urgently evaluate the entire curriculum at all three levels, identify serious shortcomings, and make immediate adjustments. In the meantime, it requests that provincial Departments of Education and Training direct high schools to review the list of elective subject combinations so that students have more opportunities to register for various combinations for university admission.

Students should be allowed to switch elective subjects according to their needs for university admissions, aligning with their abilities and aptitudes developed during their high school studies. Simultaneously, high schools should be instructed not to arbitrarily arrange elective subject combinations contrary to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training; elective subject combinations should be developed based on surveys of students at the beginning of their high school years, and elective subjects should be arranged according to students' needs.

The time allotted for elective subjects should be increased.

Regarding the 2025 high school graduation exam, the Association believes that the number of subjects and the fact that students know the subjects in advance will be exactly the same as the high school exam more than 40 years ago. However, the 2025 exam with 4 subjects will have a new special feature: 36 ways to choose subjects, instead of 4 combinations as before.

According to the Association, designing the exam format, where all elective subjects are tested within 50 minutes, makes it difficult to accurately assess students' abilities. The inclusion of 40% true/false questions further increases the likelihood of guesswork among candidates, leading to poor validity and discriminatory power in the exam questions.

This association recommends that the Ministry of Education and Training issue different types of exam questions that comply with the 2018 General Education Program, the continuing education program at the high school level, and groups of students who take elective courses and those who do not, in order to suit different groups of exam candidates.

Increase the time allotted for elective subjects and implement solutions to limit the possibility of "guessing" in true/false questions (which account for up to 40% of the total score for each subject) to fully assess students' abilities, ensuring the validity and discriminatory power of the exam, and facilitating universities' admissions process based on high school graduation exam results.

"Allow candidates to choose additional elective subjects (even if they don't study elective subjects in the school's prescribed curriculum) to ensure that learners develop their self-learning abilities to the fullest and have more opportunities to apply to universities when the quality of incoming students is ensured," the proposal stated.

Computer-based exams are held multiple times a year.

According to the proposal, in subsequent years, the examination will be a competency assessment test; primarily conducted on provincial computers; and the test questions will be drawn from a question bank provided by independent testing centers assigned by the Ministry of Education and Training. Local authorities will proactively organize and conduct the examination multiple times a year according to the schedule set by the Ministry of Education and Training.

While still maintaining the paper-based exam format, the Ministry of Education and Training only organizes the high school graduation exam according to the four traditional subject combinations A, B, C, and D as before.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/kien-nghi-xem-lai-cach-day-va-thi-mon-lua-chon-185241204150924723.htm