Students of Tran Dai Nghia Secondary and High School (HCMC) in an extracurricular activity on fire prevention and fighting. The school's admission score for grade 10 is the highest in the city, but 68 students did not submit their admission application - Photo: Provided by the school
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has just announced a list of public high schools in Region 1 (formerly Ho Chi Minh City) that need to recruit additional 10th grade students for the 2025-2026 school year. The recruitment has long only occurred in schools in suburban areas, and schools in the lower ranks.
As for the top high schools, they have already affirmed their position, their admission scores are very high, passing the entrance exams to these schools is not easy, so why not enroll? But the paradox still happens.
Three reasons
This year, many famous public high schools in Ho Chi Minh City did not meet their 10th grade enrollment quota in the first round, leading to a second round of enrollment. For example, Tran Dai Nghia Secondary and High School recruited 68 more students, Nguyen Thuong Hien High School recruited 80 more students, Gia Dinh High School recruited 87 more students, Practicing High School (Ho Chi Minh City University of Education) recruited 15 more students, Le Quy Don High School recruited 15 more students, Phu Nhuan High School recruited 20 more students...
Why do students register for admission but fail to submit their application after passing the exam?
According to Mr. Lam Trieu Nghi - principal of Nguyen Thuong Hien High School, the school has contacted parents and learned that there are three reasons why students who passed the exam did not submit their application.
"First, there are students studying abroad, this number is small. Second, most students do not apply for admission because they have passed the entrance exam and enrolled at the Gifted High School (Ho Chi Minh City National University). Third, the remaining students choose to study at private schools, these are students who live in provinces outside Ho Chi Minh City (students studying at private secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City are allowed to take the entrance exam to public grade 10 - PV).
During the days of receiving applications for grade 10 this year, I met some parents who wondered: "Does Nguyen Thuong Hien School organize boarding for students?". When they received the answer of no, they decided to let their children return to study at a private school," said Mr. Nghi.
Similarly, Ms. Tran Thi Hong Thuy - principal of Tran Dai Nghia Secondary and High School - also informed: "We called the parents to find out that the student passed Tran Dai Nghia but also passed the Gifted High School at the same time."
According to Tuoi Tre's research, this is a common situation in famous high schools. Because when registering for the entrance exam to public grade 10, students have already referred to the benchmark scores of previous years. Therefore, usually only good and excellent students register to take the entrance exam to top schools. At the same time, they also register to take the entrance exam to specialized grade 10 at specialized schools.
Need to change
The principal of a top high school in Ho Chi Minh City (who requested not to be named) said: "Our school also did not meet its enrollment target this year, but I did not request additional enrollment. Because experience from last year's enrollment season showed that additional enrollment is not feasible for top high schools, due to the lack of "sources" to recruit.
This year, the additional admission requirements for grade 10 are that students do not pass any of their admission wishes to public high schools; have a total entrance exam score of three subjects: math, literature, foreign language and priority and incentive points (if any) greater than or equal to the standard score of the first wish of the public high school they want to apply for.
Each student can only register for additional admission to one high school and cannot change schools after submitting the application for additional admission. Thus, no student will have a very high score as the standard score to enter a top school but fail all three wishes."
Therefore, the top high schools with good teachers and facilities make many students dream of attending, but there are many empty seats because they cannot meet the enrollment quota!
According to the principals, in recent years, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Ho Chi Minh City) has carried out the 10th grade admission work in a quite systematic and scientific manner. That is, the department will announce the admission scores for specialized 10th grade at Le Hong Phong and Tran Dai Nghia High Schools for the Gifted in advance.
Once these two schools have received their applications, the department will continue to consider the admission scores for grade 10 at regular schools (students who have enrolled at Le Hong Phong and Tran Dai Nghia will have their names removed when considering admission to regular grade 10).
However, Ho Chi Minh City still has the Gifted High School, a specialized high school under the Ho Chi Minh City National University and organizes its own 10th grade entrance exam. That is why there is such an awkward situation.
"I hope that next year's admission season, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training will coordinate with the Gifted High School to avoid the situation where students pass two places like this year. Because the 10th grade entrance exam at the Gifted High School is usually held before the 10th grade entrance exam of the department. They announced the results at the same time as Le Hong Phong and Tran Dai Nghia Specialized Schools.
The Department of Education and Training can ask candidates to log into the department's online admission system and confirm that they have enrolled at the Gifted High School so that the system can remove their names when considering the standard scores for admission to regular grade 10. This will create more opportunities for other candidates to study at top high schools," a principal suggested.
Leave top school, choose private school
My child just passed the entrance exam to a top high school with a fairly high score, but in the end the family chose to send him to a private high school.
The reason is that private schools have many services that meet the needs of busy parents like me. They have buses to pick up and drop off students, have dormitories if needed, and have music and swimming lessons right in the school. Students will receive extra tutoring in the evenings and do not need to attend extra classes outside.
(Ms. NGUYEN THI HONG VAN - parent in Phu Thanh ward, Ho Chi Minh City)
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/la-lung-tuyen-sinh-lop-10-o-tp-hcm-truong-hot-tuyen-khong-du-chi-tieu-20250729223801581.htm
Comment (0)