Fearing unfairness, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City clarified the regulations for the exam for gifted students in grade 9.

Wards, communes and special zones must organize exams to select excellent 9th grade students.

At the general education professional conference on December 9, Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, requested that the People's Committees of wards, communes, and special zones organize exams to select excellent 9th grade students at ward and commune levels to ensure the rights and fairness for students.

Lo ngại không công bằng, Sở GD-ĐT TP.HCM nêu rõ quy định thi học sinh giỏi lớp 9 - Ảnh 1. — The 2025-2026 school year is the first year that the city-level 9th grade excellent student exam is organized according to the 2-level local government model.

According to Mr. Quoc, the 2025-2026 school year is the first year that the city-level 9th grade excellent student exam is organized according to the 2-level local government model, having to select from the ward and commune levels before selecting to compete at the city level.

If the ward or commune allows the school to select 1-2 students/subject to participate in the city-level excellent student exam, it will be difficult to ensure fairness for the students, leading to reactions from parents, students, and schools.

Meanwhile, according to the decentralization regulations, wards and communes must organize the examination to select excellent grade 9 students at ward and commune levels, similar to the examination for excellent teachers at ward and commune levels in the future. In addition, the resolution of the People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City clearly stipulates the expenditure level for organizing the examination at ward and commune levels.

The Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training instructed that wards and communes can invite experts and professional groups to participate in supporting the work of making questions. The Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City does not issue reference questions or sample question structures for the gifted student exam.

Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc noted that the 9th grade excellent student exam is a professional orientation, helping students have passion and love for the subject and is a source to select students for specialized high schools, training high-quality human resources for the city.

Previously, the Department of Education and Training organized district-level exams and then selected winning students to participate in the city-level 9th grade excellent student exam.

Lo ngại không công bằng, Sở GD-ĐT TP.HCM nêu rõ quy định thi học sinh giỏi lớp 9 - Ảnh 2. — The Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City stipulates that each ward, commune, and special zone is a unit participating in the excellent student contest for 9th graders.

Parents and teachers worry about unfairness

The reason the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training issued specific directives regarding the organization of the Grade 9 gifted student selection exam is because the 2025-2026 school year will be the first year that Ho Chi Minh City organizes the Grade 9 gifted student exam at the city level after the merger with Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau (formerly) and the implementation of a two-tiered government system, eliminating district-level education and training departments.

Specifically, the Department of Education and Training stipulates that each ward, commune, and special zone is a participating unit, registering directly on the department's management page.

For participating units with 1-3 junior high schools, or multi-level schools including junior high schools, a maximum of 3 students per subject (Vietnamese language and literature, mathematics, computer science, English, French, Chinese, Japanese, technology); a maximum of 6 students (natural science); and a maximum of 4 students (history, geography).

Units with 4-6 junior high schools and multi-level general schools with junior high school level can send a maximum of 5 students/subject (literature, math, information technology, English, French, Chinese, Japanese, technology); send a maximum of 9 students (natural science); send a maximum of 6 students (history, geography).

Units with more than 6 junior high schools, multi-level general schools with junior high school level can send a maximum of 8 students/subject (literature, math, information technology, English, French, Chinese, Japanese, technology); a maximum of 12 students (natural sciences); a maximum of 8 students (history, geography).

With the above regulations, in reality, each ward, commune, and special zone selects excellent students to participate in the city level in a different way. Some localities organize exams at the ward and commune level, while others do not.

Since then, parents and teachers have been upset, saying that if the ward does not organize a ward-level excellent student competition, but instead selects students by each secondary school sending 1-2 students to compete, it is unfair. Because the level of students in each school is different.

Some principals also said that some wards do not hold competitions to select excellent students but plan to let secondary schools choose students based on their strengths. The principals said that if they choose in such a way, it is not appropriate and cannot ensure the accuracy of training excellent students.

Meanwhile, the People's Committees of the wards also mentioned the difficulties in organizing the ward-level excellent student exam when there is no longer a team of specialists like the previous Department of Education and Training. Not to mention that some wards and communes only have 2 or 3 secondary schools, so organizing an exam is quite costly and ineffective.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lo-khong-cong-bang-so-gd-dt-tphcm-neu-ro-quy-dinh-thi-hoc-sinh-gioi-lop-9-18525121009403915.htm