Should it be done jointly or separately?

According to information provided by Mr. Le Hoai Nam, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, during a meeting with the Culture and Social Affairs Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council on March 27th regarding the enrollment process for the 2024-2025 school year, it is expected that 6 secondary schools (an increase of 4 schools compared to the previous school year) in District 1, District 7, Hoc Mon District, and Thu Duc City will conduct entrance exams for grade 6 using a competency assessment test.

ADVANCED SCHOOLS OR SCHOOLS WITH HIGH ADMISSION NEEDS

According to Mr. Nam, these six junior high schools are either advanced schools – internationally integrated schools or schools with a much higher enrollment demand than their enrollment quotas. These include Tran Quoc Toan 1 Junior High School, Hoa Lu Junior High School, Binh Tho Junior High School (Thu Duc City); Nguyen Huu Tho Junior High School (District 7); Nguyen An Khuong Junior High School (Hoc Mon District); and Tran Dai Nghia Junior High School - High School (District 1, currently developing a plan to separate from Tran Dai Nghia Specialized High School).

Students take the entrance exam for 6th grade at Tran Dai Nghia Specialized High School (Ho Chi Minh City) in 2023. This year, it is expected that 6 schools will implement this admission method.

Regarding Ho Chi Minh City's expansion of the number of junior high schools conducting entrance exams for 6th grade admissions, Mr. Le Hoai Nam stated that, based on consolidated document 03/VBHN-BGDĐT on the regulations for junior and senior high school admissions issued by the Ministry of Education and Training on May 3, 2019, if an educational institution has more students registering for 6th grade than the enrollment quota, the Department of Education and Training will guide the implementation of an admission plan using a selection method or a combination of selection and assessment of students' abilities. From the 2023-2024 school year, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee will allow entrance exams for 6th grade admissions in schools classified as advanced schools - internationally integrated schools; and schools with more students registering for 6th grade than the enrollment quota. Local authorities will develop appropriate admission plans based on their specific circumstances.

Accordingly, the Education and Training Departments of District 7, Hoc Mon District, and Thu Duc City have proposed enrollment plans for the aforementioned schools due to the much higher demand for enrollment at the beginning of the school year compared to the enrollment quotas in their respective areas.

An official from the Department of Education and Training added that the district education departments are proactively developing implementation plans such as survey dates and survey content. The Department will support a common online registration portal for grade 6 enrollment for the six schools conducting the survey. Accordingly, students will select one of the six schools mentioned above and update their general personal information on the system to limit the number of fake registration applications.

LOCAL IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

Mr. Dang Nguyen Thinh, Head of the Education and Training Department of District 7, said that the department is developing a plan to survey 6th grade students at Nguyen Huu Tho Secondary School to submit to the District 7 People's Committee. The district chose to conduct the survey for Nguyen Huu Tho School because every year the school faces significant pressure from parents' needs. At the same time, the district is gradually building the school according to an advanced model – integrating internationally with criteria for the quality of graduates completing secondary education. Therefore, preparation must begin this school year.

According to Mr. Thinh, since this is the first year of implementation, the department is considering technical solutions and whether to conduct a joint survey with Tran Dai Nghia School. If a separate plan is implemented, they will propose how the Department will provide professional support in compiling the survey content. The head of the District 7 Education and Training Department said that they will seek specific opinions from the Department next week on these matters.

In Thu Duc City, the 2023-2024 school year saw the implementation of a similar entrance exam for 6th grade at Tran Dai Nghia Specialized High School and Tran Quoc Toan 1 Secondary School. For the 2024-2025 school year, Mr. Nguyen Thai Vinh Nguyen, Head of the Education and Training Department of Thu Duc City, stated that plans are being developed to expand the 6th grade entrance exam using a competency assessment to two more secondary schools: Hoa Lu and Binh Tho.

Mr. Vinh Nguyen stated that the three aforementioned junior high schools consistently have a large number of applicants but limited enrollment quotas. If admissions were based solely on elementary school math and Vietnamese scores, as well as English language certificates, it would be very difficult to guarantee sufficient places. Therefore, conducting an entrance exam will help the schools select truly outstanding and suitable students.

According to the leaders of the Thu Duc City Department of Education and Training, after a year of implementing the 6th grade entrance exam process and test questions of Tran Dai Nghia Specialized High School for the 6th grade, in the 2024-2025 school year, the Department of Education and Training will proactively develop the content of the entrance exam. The Department will propose that the entrance exam schedule for the three schools in Thu Duc City not overlap with that of Tran Dai Nghia Specialized High School to best meet the needs, aspirations, and opportunities of students to participate in the entrance exam for their desired school.

Secondary schools that plan to admit 6th graders this year using an entrance exam are those classified as advanced schools - internationally integrated schools or schools with a much higher demand for enrollment than their enrollment quota.

LIMIT EXAM PREPARATION.

The survey will help students assess their abilities and potential to be admitted to suitable schools, while schools can recruit according to publicly available and transparent quotas. Mr. Vinh Nguyen also added that the survey aims to evaluate students' abilities, skills, and aptitudes; therefore, exam preparation only causes students stress. Last year's results showed that some students who had prepared for a long time did not perform well on the test, and vice versa. What is important is the abilities, knowledge, and skills that students have formed and accumulated during their primary school studies.

Regarding the organization and compilation of this year's 6th grade entrance exam content, Mr. Vinh Nguyen stated that the exam structure will be similar to last year's entrance exam for Tran Dai Nghia Specialized High School, but with a lower difficulty level. The exam question compilation process will be rigorous, ensuring confidentiality, and the team of compilers will be selected from highly qualified and experienced teachers.

According to the regulations of the Department of Education and Training, in the case of not being admitted to grade 6 through the aptitude test, students will still be considered for grade 6 admission according to the regulations of the district/county admissions steering committee, meaning they will still be assigned to junior high schools in the area.

Mr. Nguyen Thai Vinh Nguyen stated that all students who complete primary school are assigned to junior high schools before participating in the 6th grade entrance exam. Only when a student is admitted and submits their enrollment application to the schools conducting the exam will their name be removed from the system. This prevents junior high schools from waiting for students who have already been assigned to a school to submit their application, and also creates opportunities for other students. Therefore, parents do not need to worry that their children will lose the opportunity to be assigned to a junior high school if they participate in the 6th grade entrance exam.

The remaining junior high schools will still recruit students through the selection process.

Besides the six schools mentioned above, the remaining junior high schools still recruit students through a selection process. The registration and enrollment process is conducted entirely online.

The enrollment process is divided into two phases. Phase 1 prioritizes applicants who are currently residing in the area. Based on the number of students that have not yet met their assigned quotas, the enrollment steering committee for the first grade will decide to open Phase 2, and will specify which applicants are allowed to register during this phase. The deadline for announcing the enrollment results is August 1st.

Thu Duc City and its districts and counties are applying Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to support the enrollment process. The allocation of students to schools within the area prioritizes students attending schools near their place of residence; however, depending on the local situation, allocation may not be based on administrative boundaries of wards.

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