The competition rate for entering grade 10 in Hanoi makes parents lose sleep: Hot advice from experts

The Hanoi Department of Education and Training has just announced the number of students registering for admission to grade 10 at public high schools. Based on the enrollment quota and the number of students registering, candidates and parents can calculate the competition rate for schools. However, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training does not allow candidates to adjust their wishes after registration, so the announcement is only for information and to make efforts in studying and preparing best for the exam taking place in early June.

After receiving information about the competition ratio, many parents whose children are taking the 10th grade entrance exam this year shared their worries and pressure to the point of "losing sleep and appetite".

This year, 103,000 students registered for the 10th grade entrance exam of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, of which about 64% will be admitted to public high schools. (Photo: Trong Tai)

Mr. Quang, whose child is in grade 9 at a secondary school in Cau Giay, shared that his child's first choice was to a school with twice the number of applicants as the enrollment quota, and his second choice was to a school far from the city center. "The worrying thing is that his first choice is not enough, but his second choice is to a school in the suburbs, with more than 5,000 applicants. The family is so confused, not knowing what to do," Mr. Quang shared.

According to the announcement of the Department of Education and Training, in addition to the top 10 schools with the highest competition ratio, fluctuating between 1/1.89 and 1/2.44, there are the middle group and the group with competition ratio below 1.

The group of schools with a competition ratio of less than 1 includes 13 high schools: Tho Xuan, Dai Cuong, Minh Quang, Tu Lap, Xuan Khanh, Bat Bat, Bac Luong Son, Ung Hoa B, Phuc Loi, Luu Hoang, Dong My, Ung Hoa A, Thuong Cat.

In particular, the number of students registering for the first choice is lower than the assigned enrollment target. Many parents are concerned about the selection method for the choices and the lower the number of candidates registering for the first choice, the more likely they are to pass.

In addition, some schools have a low number of students registering for their first choice, but their second choice is many times higher. For example, Nguyen Van Cu High School has 1,220 students registering for their first choice, while the second choice has tripled the number; Minh Quang High School (Ba Vi) has only 393 students registering for their first choice, but nearly 2,600 students registering for their second choice; Bac Luong Son High School has only 396 students registering for their first choice, nearly 2,000 candidates registering for their second choice, and more than 3,800 candidates registering for their third choice....

"This year's exam structure has some new points. For example, the Literature exam does not use textbook materials; the Foreign Language exam has an additional short-answer question format - so students need to practice knowledge in all three subjects, avoiding lopsided learning and rote learning. In addition to studying, health is also extremely important, students need to eat nutritious food, avoid staying up too late to study, leading to fatigue and not being alert the next day.

Parents should not put too much pressure on their children but should accompany them during their studies and exam preparation, and pay attention to their children's physical and mental health," said Ms. Le Thi Huong Mai, Vice Principal of Dong Da Secondary School, Dong Da District.

On the other hand, the top schools have sky-high admission scores for grade 10 every year, so the number of candidates registering for their first choice is not high and their second choice is even rarer. For example, Viet Duc High School only has 27 candidates registering for their second choice; Phan Dinh Phung High School has 14 candidates; Thang Long High School has 24 candidates; Yen Hoa High School has 42 candidates...

Ms. Le Thi Huong Mai, Vice Principal of Dong Da Secondary School, Dong Da District (Hanoi) said that for students at this stage, the most important thing is to prepare the best knowledge, practice test-taking skills and have a comfortable mentality, ready to enter the exam.

This year's exam structure has some new points. For example, the Literature exam does not use materials from textbooks; the Foreign Language exam has an additional short answer question format - so students need to practice knowledge in all three subjects, avoid studying one-sidedly or learning by rote. In addition to studying, health is also extremely important, students need to eat nutritious food, avoid staying up too late to study, leading to fatigue and not being alert the next day.

For parents, this time does not cause heavy pressure but needs to accompany their children in the learning and exam preparation process, and care for their physical and mental health.

Low competition rate does not guarantee passing

According to information on enrollment from the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, with the current calculation of taking the number of students registering for the first choice and dividing it by the enrollment quota, a low competition ratio of less than 1 does not mean that candidates will automatically be admitted.

The admission principle of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training is to consider in parallel, all 3 wishes in order, wish 1, wish 2, wish 3 to ensure fairness and equality for candidates.

In which, to consider the second wish, the candidate must not pass the first wish at another school and have a score 1 point higher than the standard score. For example, a candidate who passes the first wish gets 1 point but to pass the second wish must get 21 points.

“Candidates and parents should not understand that, there are 300 candidates registering their first choice for High School A but the school’s enrollment quota is up to 600, which means that all 300 students will definitely be admitted. Like Doan Ket High School last year, the score review also took all 3 choices to get down to 23.75 points,” said a representative of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training.

In addition, it is not difficult to explain why candidates register their first and second choices at low-ranking schools, because this is a race for students with good abilities. Even students who study well but are not mentally stable will not necessarily choose the top schools, especially the second choice when they have to add 1 more point compared to the first choice.

Explaining the phenomenon of students registering their second choice at schools in the suburbs in large numbers, a representative of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training said that parents may want to choose the safe option. For students with good academic performance, they have set their first choice at a priority school and their second choice at a more distant school, with a lower standard score to ensure safety and certainty of passing. This is the thinking and calculation of parents and students.

In fact, there are students who study hard, always get high scores in tests and surveys throughout the process, parents do not hesitate to register them at top schools. There are even students who only register for one wish to take the entrance exam to grade 10 of a specialized high school.

In addition, there are students whose performance fluctuates, with scores sometimes high and sometimes low. Parents calculate the safety factor by choosing 2 choices with far apart standard scores, which is safer than 2 schools with scores close together. In that case, with the principle that choice 2 must be 1 point higher than choice 1, the candidate is at risk of failing both.

The 10th grade entrance exam of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training will take place on June 6-7. This year, 103,000 students registered for the exam and about 64% of students will be admitted to public high schools. Compared to last year, the number of students admitted to grade 10 will increase by about 5,000 students, but this exam still makes candidates and parents stressed about the level of competition for public schools and top public schools.

Ha Linh

Source: https://tienphong.vn/ti-le-choi-vao-lop-10-ha-noi-khien-phu-huynh-mat-an-mat-ngu-chuyen-gia-tu-van-nong-post1742681.tpo