The exam is unbalanced, so the studies are unbalanced.

In the 2025 high school graduation exam, while over 42% of candidates registered for history and geography, only 21% chose chemistry, and 6.2% chose biology...

The joy of Hanoi students after completing the 2024 high school graduation exam - Photo: NAM TRAN

The 2025 high school graduation exam – the first exam under the 2018 general education program – is revealing a worrying reality: students' choices of exam subjects are severely imbalanced between the natural sciences and social sciences.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training show that, in addition to compulsory subjects like mathematics and literature, social science subjects such as history and geography are chosen by candidates significantly more often than natural science subjects such as physics, chemistry, and biology.

Specifically, while history and geography each had over 42% of registered candidates, chemistry only reached 21%, and biology was at a very low level (6.2%).

What caused this?

This phenomenon of unbalanced learning and unbalanced testing reflects deeper issues stemming from general education policies, examination organization, and career guidance.

Although the 2018 general education program was designed to be open-ended and career-oriented starting from grade 10, many schools lacked sufficient teachers and facilities during implementation, forcing students to choose subject combinations that were easier to organize, mainly focusing on social sciences.

Students also prioritize choosing subjects that are easy to pass exams in and easy to get high scores in, so they can graduate smoothly and easily get into university.

The current structure of the high school graduation exam itself contributes to this situation. Candidates only need to choose one of two groups: natural sciences or social sciences, leading to a trend of choosing social sciences as a "safe haven" for graduation. This makes it increasingly difficult for engineering, technology, and medical fields – which require a solid foundation in natural sciences – to recruit high-quality students, as students avoid more challenging and demanding subjects that require logical thinking.

The current university admissions policy also exacerbates the trend of subject imbalance. Many universities use general subject combinations or lean towards social sciences, allowing students to easily get admitted without investing heavily in difficult natural science subjects. Meanwhile, career counseling at high schools remains weak and lacks depth, failing to adequately help students make informed choices about subjects related to their future careers.

Furthermore, the policy of using academic transcripts for high school graduation assessment, with a weighting of up to 50%, while theoretically sound in reducing exam pressure and providing a comprehensive assessment of students, reveals a major loophole in quality control.

The reality is that the lack of transparency and honesty in assessments at secondary schools is seriously distorting report card results. Many teachers, parents, and schools still prioritize achievement, "beautifying" report cards, making grades seem unreal.

If this situation persists, the initially sound policy will backfire, undermining fairness and trust in the entire education system. Vietnam is currently in a dilemma: either it must strongly standardize and rigorously assess secondary school students, or it must immediately limit the role of report cards in major decisions such as graduation and university admissions.

Serious consequences

The above causes lead to serious consequences for the overall quality of education and the structure of the national workforce. The imbalance in learning causes students to lack core competencies, especially logical thinking, critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills – essential competencies in the 21st century.

The quality of university entrance is also declining as students choose exam subjects based on how to pass rather than what is relevant to their chosen field. A more profound consequence is the decline in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) human resources, impacting the national strategy for high-tech development and innovation.

The future labor market may face imbalances, with a shortage of high-quality engineering and technology professionals while there is an oversupply of graduates in social science fields.

In developed countries such as Finland, Germany, Japan, and South Korea, graduation exams require students to complete a minimum of 7-10 subjects covering all fields of natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and sports.

More importantly, these countries each hold two separate exams: a high school graduation exam that assesses comprehensive abilities, and university entrance exams that use independent, in-depth tests tailored to the field of study.

Therefore, to improve the situation of exam-based imbalances leading to unbalanced learning, Vietnam needs to quickly adjust by increasing the number of subjects in the high school graduation exam, requiring each student to take at least one subject in both the natural sciences and social sciences groups to avoid this imbalance.

More importantly, it is necessary to quickly study options for separating the high school graduation exam and the university entrance exam, creating conditions for accurately assessing the goals: completing comprehensive general education while selecting the right people for the right fields in higher education.

Enhance differentiation

If the current national exam with its dual objectives must be maintained, the Ministry of Education and Training urgently needs to improve the methods and techniques of exam question design, enhance differentiation and practicality, and reflect both the comprehensive abilities of high school graduates and the specific abilities required for university admissions.

Comprehensive reform is necessary.

The current imbalance in education is a cumulative result of a lack of coordinated reform. When the curriculum, teachers, facilities, career guidance, examination policies, and national human resource strategy are not seamlessly integrated, all efforts to reform education will continue in a vicious cycle.

To avoid unbalanced learning, there is no other way than to implement synchronized, consistent, and comprehensive reforms across the curriculum, career guidance, and especially the examination system. This is the only path for Vietnamese education to truly achieve sustainable development.

Back to the topic

Dr. HOANG NGOC VINH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thi-lech-nen-hoc-lech-20250514093442542.htm