Paradox of 10th grade admission in Ho Chi Minh City

Continuously lacking targets

In the 2025 - 2026 school year, the total enrollment target of public high schools in Ho Chi Minh City is more than 70,000 students. However, after the time to receive admission documents, 37 high schools still lack 2,340 students.

Many schools lack a large number of students such as: Trung Lap High School lacks 262 quotas, Phong Phu High School lacks 207, Nguyen Van Tang High School lacks 181, Da Phuoc High School lacks 169, Ngo Gia Tu High School lacks 150, An Nhon Tay High School lacks 100... These are all suburban schools with low admission scores.

Notably, some top schools with high benchmark scores also lack students, such as: Tran Dai Nghia Secondary and High School lacks 68 targets, Nguyen Thuong Hien High School lacks 80, Phu Nhuan High School lacks 20, Le Quy Don High School lacks 15... These are all in the group of 10 schools with the highest benchmark scores this year.

Currently, the Department of Education and Training (DET) of Ho Chi Minh City has not announced the number of students admitted for additional admission. However, the reporter's records show that from the group to the suburban school, the number of candidates submitting additional applications is quite small.

This situation is not new. In the 2024 - 2025 school year, the city recorded 36 high schools having to recruit more than 2,200 additional students. Of which, Nguyen Thuong Hien High School lacks 40 targets despite being the school with the highest benchmark score last year; Phu Nhuan schools are lacking 12, Le Quy Don schools are lacking 15... However, schools have only recruited 1,400 more candidates, reaching a rate of 63.54%. Correspondingly, there is a shortage of more than 800 targets.

Increasing conditions but it is still difficult for schools to recruit enough

According to the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, additional admission to grade 10 is to create conditions for students with good abilities but choosing unsuitable aspirations, while increasing opportunities for candidates who miss all three aspirations.

This shows the flexibility of education policies, in accordance with the characteristics of each locality, especially in suburban areas. The goal is to ensure that all students have the opportunity to access public general education" - said a representative of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City.

In fact, after 3 years of implementing additional recruitment, the city has continuously adjusted to facilitate students. In the first year, the additional admission score is the wish point 3 (0.5-2 points/school higher than the wish point 1). In 2024-2025, the Department divides into 2 areas: suburban schools will receive applications at the 1st wish point, top schools and centers will receive applications at the 3rd wish point. By this year, all additional admission schools have received applications with the desired admission score of 1.

Mr. Lam Trieu Nghi - Principal of Nguyen Thuong Hien High School - said that many students who are admitted to the school have also passed other schools, or have planned to study abroad in advance but still register for admission, leading to admission but not admission. In addition, schools without boarding are the reasons why schools do not meet the admission quota.

According to Mr. Huynh Thanh Phu - Principal of Bui Thi Xuan High School, the Department of Education and Training should take sanctions against private schools that take students to take exams for the purpose of experience, because this loses the opportunities of other students. At the same time, it is possible to study and adjust the target higher than the actual target (but not exceeding 20%) in some top schools that often lack the target.