Signals of innovation from the exam
Escaping from model essays, rote learning and the risk of deviation from the curriculum, the Literature exam in this year's high school graduation exam was enthusiastically received by candidates. Many students shared that during the exam preparation process, they had known in advance about the innovations of the first exam under the new general education program; the Literature exam could use materials not found in textbooks.
While according to many teachers, the requirements of the Literature exam ensure the right levels of cognition, and are truly meaningful to the future lives of students. Thus, it can be seen that the theme of “different skies”, seen from this year’s Literature exam, has demonstrated a major change in the way of making exam questions, as well as in the teaching and learning process.
Along with that, this year's Math and English exams also made many candidates "cry" because of the difficulty of the exam. However, these are initial changes for the next exams to stabilize and truly assess the candidates' abilities.
The 2025 high school graduation exam is a special exam because it is both the first year of the exam according to the new 2018 general education program and ensures the exam for students taking the exam according to the (old) 2006 general education program. This is also the largest exam ever, with the participation of more than 1.1 million candidates across the country. Of which, about 200,000 personnel are mobilized to participate in the exam organization such as officials, teachers inthe education sector, police, military, health, electricity, etc.
The Government and the Prime Minister have closely directed and promptly issued many telegrams and directives on the preparation and organization of the exam. Not only that, the organization of the exam poses different challenges and requirements when the exam takes place in the context of the whole country implementing the arrangement of 2-level local government.
Unlike last year, in 2025, candidates will have to take 4 exams (2 compulsory subjects are Literature and Math); 2 elective subjects (out of the remaining 9 subjects) to both graduate from high school and get points for university admission. The organization of the exam has also changed. Candidates will take all exams in a fixed exam room, instead of changing exam rooms for each subject like previous years. The elective exams are held simultaneously in one session.
In the same exam room, candidates will take different tests, up to 5 subjects. At the same time, the formula for calculating high school graduation scores in 2025 has been adjusted to increase the role of the learning process at high school level. Therefore, the requirement for candidates is not only to do well in the exam but also to have consistent and stable learning results throughout 3 years of high school.
And the feelings of parents
For students, exams are over and they are preparing for summer vacation. However, for parents, there are still many concerns, worries, and concerns about their children's future.
Ms. Dang Kim Thoa, living in Tay Ho area, Hanoi, whose child will take the national high school exam in 2025, said: “This is a really difficult year for parents and students. Faced with too many changes in exam methods, regulations on extra classes, tutoring... After Tet holiday, children have to stop taking extra classes, switch to centers with higher prices and have difficulty choosing suitable teachers.
At the end of the school year, extra classes were reopened, causing students and parents to be confused and disoriented in their revision. In particular, this year's Math exam was "unbelievably difficult", causing my child and many other candidates to lose their spirit after completing the first day of the exam. I had to constantly encourage my child to stabilize his mentality and prepare for the second day of the exam."
Ms. Thoa said that in order to accompany her child, she had to take three days off from work to pick him up and take care of him so that he could have the best exam. Ms. Thoa confided: “For me personally, I always hope that the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and universities always put the interests of candidates first. There should be early regulations on examination methods, admission, extra study - extra teaching to stabilize the spirit and psychology of teachers, students and parents.”
At the exam site at Nghia Do Secondary School, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Ms. Dieu Anh (living in Nam Tu Liem area, Hanoi) said: "My family is more than 8km from the exam site, we have to wake up early to prepare for our children to arrive at the exam site on time. At noon, my child and I also stayed at the exam site because we did not have enough time to go home to rest." Ms. Dieu Anh said that her child has good academic performance and plans to apply to top schools in Hanoi.
Ms. Dieu Anh expressed: “The graduation rate in Vietnam in the past few decades has been very high, all children have learned and mastered basic knowledge in school. Therefore, I think we can consider letting universities recruit students themselves, reducing pressure on candidates and helping parents save time picking them up in the summer sun and rain.”
Mr. Vu Anh Thai, living in Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi, said that the national high school exam has a certain significance, the exam scores for university entrance in recent years have been relatively good. However, according to Mr. Thai, in order to select talented people to serve the country in the future, it is necessary to create questions that are closer to the children's curriculum and have a high level of classification.
Every student, every province is a student in Vietnam.
Talking to the press about the differentiation of this year's exam, especially in Math and English, Deputy Director of the Department of Quality Management Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Head of the Exam Board, said: This year's exam has many new points because it is the first time applying the form of competency assessment, so students may feel different. However, the Ministry of Education and Training has announced the structure, format of the exam and reference questions very early so that students and teachers have time to get acquainted, prepare, and avoid sudden changes.
"The construction of the exam questions has closely followed the reference questions and test results, ensuring stability. We need to wait for the official exam results to have a more complete assessment," Deputy Director Nguyen Ngoc Ha informed.
Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong said that the 2025 high school graduation exam will be the first year that the exam questions will be developed according to the new general education program, aiming to assess the candidates' abilities and qualities.
The Deputy Minister emphasized that if the exam has many high scores not because of the students' real abilities, but because the questions are easy, will it be fun? On the contrary, if students get 6-7 points, but this is a result that reflects their true abilities, then they can still be confident and have many options to continue on the path to adulthood. Moreover, the graduation score only accounts for 50%, so the exam must ensure differentiation for graduation and admission to higher education.
According to the Deputy Minister, it is noteworthy that this year's exam focuses on assessing students' abilities, helping them apply knowledge to solve practical problems. Referring to the change in the status of exam organization and grading, the Deputy Minister said that exam supervision is carried out by local authorities at 3 levels, but grading is done by local authorities at 2 levels. With many influencing factors, the Ministry of Education and Training has anticipated this. Especially following the direction of the Prime Minister with the spirit of "3 guarantees, 6 clarity", the Ministry has clearly understood the viewpoint: every student, every province is a student in Vietnam, all must be treated fairly, transparently, and in accordance with regulations.
The exam was truly a "festival of the whole society caring for students"
According to Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong, the success of this year's exam is also reflected in the ability of localities and departments to "change state" in directing and organizing the exam, adapting quickly, flexibly and effectively, despite the many major challenges this year's exam faces, especially the development of artificial intelligence. The Ministry of Education and Training acknowledges and highly appreciates the efforts of the forces and teachers who have contributed to ensuring security and safety for the exam.
Up to this point, all preparations and organization of the exam have been seriously implemented by all levels, sectors and localities, in accordance with the direction of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. The organization of this year's exam also closely follows the spirit of Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW of the Party Central Committee. The Ministry of Education and Training has implemented the exam in that spirit by reducing the number of exam sessions, while reducing costs and efficiency by not transporting the exam papers in the traditional way, but through the key information system of the Vietnam Cryptography Industry.
According to the Deputy Minister, the success of the exam was demonstrated through the participation of the entire political system, the support of sectors and forces, creating the exam as the Prime Minister emphasized, "a festival of the whole society caring for students". Regardless of the exam results, the students still have a bright future ahead.
Expressing his sincere thanks to the coordinating forces who participated in successfully organizing the exam, the Deputy Minister also acknowledged and highly appreciated the dedication and responsibility of the management staff, teachers, including those who were about to retire but still devoted themselves to the exam.
Source: https://baophapluat.vn/nhin-lai-mot-ky-thi-thpt-doi-moi-nhieu-cam-xuc-du-bao-kho-co-mua-diem-10-post553507.html
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