10th grade admission in Ho Chi Minh City: About 30% of students 'fail' public schools

Candidates taking the 2023 grade 10 entrance exam in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: NHU HUNG

Speaking to Tuoi Tre , Mr. Le Hoai Nam, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said: In the 2023-2024 school year, Ho Chi Minh City is expected to have about 116,296 students graduating from junior high school. To carry out the student streaming work, the city will allocate the total enrollment quota for grade 10 to public high schools not to exceed 70% of the number of junior high school graduates.

This ratio has been maintained for many years.

More opportunities for students

* Sir, why is the 10th grade entrance exam this year conducted in 2 phases?

- Admissions to grade 10 for the 2024-2025 school year are carried out as follows: In phase 1, students register for three priority wishes 1, 2, 3 to take the entrance exam to grade 10 at public high schools (except Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted and High School for the Gifted under Ho Chi Minh City National University).

In phase 2, depending on the application status at high schools, the department will decide to recruit additional students to public grade 10.

The above solution stems from the fact that there are students who get high scores in the 10th grade entrance exam but are not admitted to public schools. The reason is that they choose a choice that does not match their abilities.

In addition, there is another fact that many students are admitted to grade 10 but do not submit their application for admission. The reason is that they choose to study abroad, choose to study at international schools, private high schools, vocational schools... Therefore, the two-phase admission will create opportunities for more students to pass the public grade 10 exam.

* In the 2024-2025 school year, Ho Chi Minh City will not enroll non-specialized grade 10 students in Le Hong Phong and Tran Dai Nghia High Schools for the Gifted. So, how will students in the city register their wishes to enter grade 10?

- Implementing the regulations on specialized high schools issued by the Ministry of Education and Training, this year Le Hong Phong and Tran Dai Nghia specialized schools will no longer enroll non-specialized 10th graders.

In previous years, a candidate had a maximum of 7 wishes to enter grade 10. Of these, 3 wishes were to enter grade 10 at a normal high school, 2 wishes were to enter grade 10 at a specialized high school, and 2 wishes were to enter grade 10 at a non-specialized high school.

This year, we are calculating the option that each candidate will have a maximum of 6 wishes to enter grade 10. Of which, there will be 3 wishes to enter grade 10 at a normal high school as before. In particular, the number of wishes to enter specialized or integrated grade 10 will increase from 2 to 3.

After that, the department will base on the actual situation of enrollment in specialized and integrated grade 10 to decide to recruit additional students immediately after schools complete receiving student admission applications or wait until the end of semester 1 of the 2024-2025 school year to recruit additional students.

I would like to remind parents and students that we should not change our wishes once the 10th grade admission results are available. Parents should choose with their children a high school that is within a reasonable geographical distance from where they live, and avoid choosing schools that are too far away.

Mr. Le Hoai Nam

Competency-based test

* What is the policy of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training in setting the 10th grade entrance exam this year? Can you give candidates some advice on studying, reviewing for the exam and registering for 10th grade in the 2024-2025 school year?

- Ho Chi Minh City will continue to innovate the way of making 10th grade entrance exam questions in the direction of approaching students' abilities. The questions in the exam require candidates to know how to apply the knowledge they have learned to solve real-life situations, not just learn - memorize and then reproduce the knowledge as before.

The spirit is to stick to the content in the curriculum, the structure of the exam will remain stable as last year. The department has provided detailed and complete instructions for subject teachers across the city. Therefore, 9th grade students need to proactively study and review according to the instructions of subject teachers.

Regarding the choice of wishes, I advise students to choose a school that suits their ability and learning capacity, not to choose just for the sake of it or to follow the majority. Students should carefully study the teaching of the chosen subject (according to the 2018 generaleducation program) in high school.

From there, connect with your own desires, skills and future career to see if it is suitable. If not, you can choose another high school, avoid the situation when you are admitted to grade 10 but there are no suitable subjects to choose from.

* What do you think when some parents and students still hesitate to let their children learn a trade?

- Ho Chi Minh City is still promoting the work of student orientation after junior high school. In recent years, each year the city has nearly 20,000 9th grade students who do not register for the public 10th grade entrance exam. The reason is that they have chosen vocational training, non-public high school, studying abroad...

Even those who fail the 10th grade public exam can still register to study at continuing education centers, vocational secondary schools, private high schools..., without fear of lacking places to study.

Some parents hesitate to let their children learn a trade because they have not updated information about vocational schools in the city. Currently, training at vocational schools is gradually approaching the world .

Vocational colleges and continuing education centers have been strongly improving, investing in modern teaching equipment, spacious and airy facilities...

The training professions are very rich and diverse, the job opportunities after graduating from vocational schools are also very promising. Not to mention that secondary school graduates who decide to study a trade will be exempted from tuition fees.

10th grade entrance exam on June 6 and 7

This year, Ho Chi Minh City will apply the 10th grade entrance exam for candidates who wish to enroll in public high schools. Particularly, candidates who graduated from junior high school in Thanh An island commune (Can Gio district) will be selected for 10th grade.

Candidates for public grade 10 are students graduating from junior high school in the 2023-2024 school year in Ho Chi Minh City within the prescribed age. The grade 10 entrance exam dates are June 6 and 7, 2024.

Candidates will take three essay tests including literature, math and foreign language (foreign language 1 being studied at school). Of which, literature and math have 120 minutes each test, foreign language 90 minutes.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tuyen-sinh-lop-10-o-tp-hcm-khoang-30-hoc-sinh-rot-truong-cong-lap-20240321080935374.htm