Admissions: Need clarity and stability

After the 2025 university admission season with many controversial adjustments and many shortcomings in the implementation process, public opinion is placing high expectations on a stable, clear and less pressure-filled 2026 admission season for candidates.

Candidates learn information at the festival to choose their wishes and answer questions about university and college admissions organized by Tuoi Tre newspaper - Photo: QUANG DINH

In fact, last admission season, about 852,000 candidates registered for admission with a total of 7.6 million wishes.

This number more or less reflects the confusion and lack of direction of candidates in the context of sudden and unstable changes in admission methods.

The abolition of early admission in 2025 will cause all methods to be "congested" after the high school graduation exam results are available, overloading the system, causing psychological pressure on candidates and affecting healthy competition between schools.

In that context, the information that the Ministry will amend and supplement the admission regulations in 2026, and at the same time build a comprehensive admission reform project to be applied from 2027 is a positive signal. However, the worrying thing is that the consistency and stability in the policy are being put in a big question mark.

It is undeniable that the Ministry of Education and Training has made efforts to improve the admission process, but the speed and manner in which the changes are being implemented seem to be making it difficult for both universities and candidates to "react".

The Ministry requires training institutions to announce their enrollment methods from October 2025 for 2026, while it is not yet known how the new regulations will be amended. So what will schools base their enrollment plans on?

One of the controversies over the years has revolved around the high school transcript admission method - which accounts for 42.4% of the total enrollment target in 2025.

This method was once considered a flexible solution, diversifying enrollment and reducing exam pressure. However, this method is also considered a "fertile ground" for the phenomenon of "beautifying academic records", which makes the honesty and fairness in enrollment doubtful.

The issue is not simply about keeping or eliminating the use of transcripts for admission, but requires a comprehensive view, assessing the real capacity of schools in using this method, the quality of high school transcripts and the consistency in the student assessment process according to the new general education program.

The application of high school transcript-based admission needs to be accompanied by a control mechanism, transparency and clear criteria to ensure both diversification of opportunities and maintenance of training quality and fairness.

The project to reform enrollment from 2027 is an opportunity for the Ministry of Education and Training to build an enrollment system that is consistent with the new general education program, based on core principles: fairness, transparency, correct assessment of capacity, reducing exam pressure without sacrificing quality.

However, do not let the candidates of 2026 and 2027 become "guinea pigs" for unstable experiments. Sustainable reform must start with listening, not only from managers, but also from schools, students and society.

The constant change of regulations and lack of a clear roadmap only makes the annual admissions a "gamble" in which the risk is always on the candidate's side.

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TRAN HUYNH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tuyen-sinh-can-ro-rang-va-on-dinh-20250928072934122.htm