The proposal to expand admission consideration instead of the 10th grade entrance exam in Ho Chi Minh City is receiving attention from a large number of parents and students. While there are opinions that it is necessary to reduce pressure on secondary school students, many experts believe that the 10th grade exam plays an important role in the process of education and student stratification.
Lao Dong Newspaper had a conversation with Dr. Vu Thu Huong - former lecturer of the Faculty of Primary Education, Hanoi National University of Education on this issue.
Currently, there are many different opinions surrounding whether to keep or abolish the 10th grade entrance exam. According to you, what is the significance of the 10th grade exam for students and what impacts can the abolition of this exam create?
- Uncle Ho once said: "Rice brought in to grind is so painful, Rice finished to grind is white like cotton; Living in human life is also like that, Hard training is successful". In fact, students today are more protected by family and society than before. The abolition of important exams, which are opportunities for students to challenge themselves, will make them lack motivation to train and grow up.
The 10th grade entrance exam helps students learn how to overcome challenges. They have to face study pressure, manage time, overcome knowledge gaps, and know how to self-assess their abilities to choose suitable aspirations. The exam is an opportunity for them to understand themselves better, and at the same time prove their learning process and supplement missing knowledge.
If the 10th grade entrance exam is abolished, students will develop a mentality of underestimating efforts because everything is too easy to achieve. Later, they may be shocked by real difficulties. In addition, finding ways to eliminate pressure for students also makes them dependent and have a psychology of demanding, no longer having the spirit to try.
I believe that before making any changes in education, it is necessary to put the real interests of learners first. From the above analysis, it can be seen that abolishing the 10th grade entrance exam does not necessarily bring benefits to students, and may even cause many consequences.
Many opinions believe that the current 10th grade exam creates too much pressure compared to the age of students. What is your opinion on this issue?
- Currently, parents often tend to consider their children forever young children while needing to create conditions for them to grow up instead of overprotecting them.
The important thing is how families perceive the exam. Some parents put too much emphasis on being admitted to prestigious schools, unintentionally creating great pressure for their children. Meanwhile, in families where children only need to try their best, regardless of the results, students often study more lightly.
Thus, in reality, pressure does not come from the exam but mostly from the media, social networks and family.
So according to you, what is the core solution to reduce pressure on students: Expanding public schools or promoting student stratification after secondary school?
- Building more public schools may not solve the root of the problem. Because when there are more schools, parents will still want their children to enter schools considered "good schools". In fact, in many suburban areas or in some localities, there are still schools that have not recruited enough targets. This shows that streaming students after secondary school is the fundamental solution.
To do this, first of all, it is necessary to limit the excessive media coverage of the exam. When the whole society focuses too much on exams, students will feel even more stressed. In addition, it is necessary to study adjusting exam subjects in a more flexible direction. Currently, the exam mainly revolves around Math, Literature, and Foreign Languages. It is possible to consider forms of selection or drawing lots for exam subjects so that students can study all subjects evenly.
In general, the 10th grade entrance exam should still be organized as an opportunity for students to experience pressure at an appropriate level, thereby training themselves and becoming more mature.
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