You should prepare yourself mentally.

Recently, the Ministry of Education and Training issued a draft Circular amending and supplementing the Regulations on admission to junior high schools and high schools, replacing the current circular, which is expected to stipulate that students will take exams in 3 subjects for grade 10.

Students in Ho Chi Minh City during the 10th grade entrance exam for the 2023-2024 school year. In Ho Chi Minh City, the 10th grade entrance exam is a very stressful one, with only 70% of students passing to get into public schools. Photo: Le Tien

Specifically, the draft outlines two methods for admission to 10th grade: selection based on academic records or entrance examination. For the entrance examination, the draft stipulates three subjects: Mathematics, Literature, and one subject chosen randomly by the Department of Education and Training from the remaining subjects in the lower secondary education curriculum.

In Ho Chi Minh City, mathematics, literature, and English have long been chosen as the subjects for the 10th grade entrance exam. Notably, in September, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training released sample exam questions for these three subjects according to the new curriculum. Prior to this new draft, a reporter from Dan Viet newspaper gathered opinions from students, parents, and teachers in Ho Chi Minh City.

New draft: Supporters and opponents

Nguyen Hai Dang, a 9th-grade student at Phu Tho Secondary School (District 11, Ho Chi Minh City), holds a different opinion from the majority. Instead of keeping the three subjects for the 10th-grade entrance exam – mathematics, literature, and English – Dang wants to replace English with a different elective subject.

"I really want to be able to take another elective subject, such as the Natural Sciences combination. I feel that the Natural Sciences combination is easier to study, and those are also the subjects I want to focus on for the university entrance exam later. Many of my classmates share the same opinion," Dang said.

Commenting on online learning forums, many students in Ho Chi Minh City expressed their desire to keep the three subjects for the 10th grade entrance exam as they are now. According to a recent survey by Tuoi Tre Online, 78% of readers agreed with the idea of ​​the 10th grade entrance exam consisting of three subjects: mathematics, literature, and English.

Ms. Nguyen Minh Anh (Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City), a parent with a child in 9th grade, said: "My family has invested in my child's English education since a young age. In my opinion, English is a very necessary subject, a solid foundation for children to enter life. Therefore, I don't want to have to change English into another subject."

Speaking to a reporter from Dan Viet, Ms. Pham Thi Minh Hong, Principal of Nguyen Thai Binh Secondary School, said that 100% of the teachers in the school agreed to keep the old exam subjects.

"English has long been a subject that Ho Chi Minh City prioritizes for its students, and even parents invest heavily in their children's education. Therefore, for students in Ho Chi Minh City, continuing to take the 10th grade entrance exam in English is not too difficult. Furthermore, this year is the first year students are taking the exam under the new curriculum, and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has already issued the exam structure for these three subjects, so I really hope to keep the exam subjects the same as before," Ms. Hong shared.

You should mentally prepare yourself, even if you have to draw lots for your exam subjects.

To prepare well for the 10th grade entrance exam, students should proactively review their knowledge, avoiding rote learning or focusing only on certain topics, and ensuring they thoroughly understand each subject. (Photo: Le Tien)

Instead of choosing to support or oppose the new draft, Mr. Khuu Manh Hung, Head of the Education and Training Department of District 12 (Ho Chi Minh City), said that he has instructed schools in the district to be prepared for any possible changes, avoiding rote learning, unbalanced learning, and ensuring that each lesson is thoroughly understood.

According to Mr. Hung, students have to study whatever subject they choose. If they choose English, the advantage is that it's a subject that receives more attention. But if they choose a subject randomly, they'll have to focus on all subjects equally.

Responding to the question of whether students would be affected by the short preparation time if the exam subjects were chosen by lottery, Mr. Hung said: "If students don't focus on specific subjects but concentrate on reviewing all subjects evenly from the beginning, they won't be significantly affected. They must proactively study before the Ministry announces the elective subjects."

Regarding this issue, Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of the Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, expressed his wish for Ho Chi Minh City to continue to have the autonomy to choose the third exam subject. According to Mr. Minh, each locality will have different strategies and orientations for educational development, depending on its actual conditions.

Furthermore, the goal of the 2018 General Education Program is not to assess students based on knowledge of a single subject, but rather on their qualities, abilities, and capacity to apply knowledge to problem-solving. Therefore, regardless of which subject is chosen for the third exam, there is no concern about students focusing only on the exam subjects.

Mr. Ho Tan Minh stated that in recent years, the 10th grade entrance exam in Ho Chi Minh City has consistently undergone changes, with a focus on increasing the number of questions that require the application of learned knowledge to solve real-life situations.

For many years, the city's 10th grade entrance exam has remained stable with three subjects: mathematics, literature, and a third subject, a foreign language. Students' academic results have consistently met the goals and objectives of the curriculum.

The Deputy Minister of Education and Training explains why the ministry plans to choose a lottery system for the subjects in the 10th grade entrance exam.

At the regular government press conference, Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong stated that fixing the subjects for the 10th grade exam could lead to rote learning and unbalanced studying, so the ministry is considering the option of drawing lots for the third exam subject.

Mr. Thuong said the ministry is studying ways to choose the third subject, possibly a social science subject this year, a natural science subject next year, another subject the year after that, or it could be done by lottery.

According to Mr. Thuong, the Ministry of Education and Training has conducted a comprehensive survey and very thorough evaluation of the 10th-grade entrance examination process over the past 10 years.

The ministry's leadership acknowledges that the method of selecting the third subject is "the most important." If left to local authorities to choose, this could be influenced by the subjective will of the head of the locality, leading to many negative consequences.

Source: https://danviet.vn/boc-tham-mon-thi-vao-lop-10-nen-chuan-bi-tam-ly-san-sang-20241014185043834.htm