The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has just announced Circular 30 on regulations for secondary and high school admissions, which clearly states: Secondary school admissions are based on selection and will be applied from February 14 this year.
This means that high-quality secondary schools will also stop recruiting students through entrance exams. This information has received the attention of many parents.
Ms. Vu Thi Oanh, Bac Tu Liem District, Hanoi, invested in her child's study of 3 subjects: Math, Vietnamese and English from the middle of 4th grade. The family spends nearly 4 million VND per month. According to Ms. Oanh, this is the average fee when registering to study at the centers.
“I was really surprised and somewhat regretful for having skipped many competitions and awards to focus on helping my children review for the entrance exams to grade 6 at Foreign Language Secondary School and Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary School,” Ms. Oanh expressed, saying that most parents do not regret the cost but the effort their children have put into reviewing.
"With the sudden change, neither my child nor I had any prior plans, so the possibility of being admitted to the desired schools will decrease," Ms. Oanh shared.
Following the information on admission to grade 6 at high-quality secondary schools and prestigious private schools, Ms. Oanh is concerned that the admission process will be difficult to ensure fairness because the competition rate for admission to these schools is very high. If only considering admission, it will be difficult to choose when the majority have good academic records. Even if there is a criterion of bonus points, it is difficult to ensure fairness, there are many consequences, and there is a possibility of a breakdown when the number of applications is too large and the quota is limited.
“Many competitions are held online, so it is difficult to know whether students are actually doing their best. For example, in the Vietnamese Champion Competition, I think it is impossible for students to get full marks on such difficult questions in just a few minutes,” Ms. Oanh expressed her opinion.
Ms. Pham Ngoc Ha (40 years old), Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi also expressed her concern and confusion about the circular of the Ministry of Education and Training. With the intention of her child taking the entrance exam to Thanh Xuan Secondary School, Ms. Ha has invested in sending her child to school since the beginning of grade 4. Regularly 5 sessions a week, her family takes her child to a center dozens of kilometers away from home. Up to now, Ms. Ha's family has invested about 50 million VND for her child's exam preparation.
"Such a change is too sudden. The children only have a few months left before taking the 6th grade entrance exam according to the old plan," said Ms. Ha.
Under the old regulations, the Ministry allowed schools with more registrations than quotas to consider admission in combination with testing and capacity assessment.
Therefore, many high-quality secondary schools and hot private schools organize entrance exams. The competition rate to enter these schools is always very high.
For example, at Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary and High School, an autonomous public school under Hanoi National University of Education, in the 2024 enrollment season, the school's enrollment target for grade 6 is 270, with more than 5,550 applications, raising the competition ratio to 1/20. This is the most crowded grade 6 exam in the capital.
Or at Luong The Vinh Secondary and High School, the competition ratio for the 6th grade entrance exam every year is always 1 to 11 - 15.
Before the new circular of the Ministry, many schools said that banning entrance exams for grade 6 would cause difficulties in enrollment and ensure fairness in competition for admission, because most students have good or better academic performance.
Not to mention, most of the top private schools in Hanoi have notified parents and candidates to register for the exam and submit applications for grade 6 admission from November and December 2024. Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Training issued regulations with many innovations at this time, making it difficult for schools to respond.
In particular, Newton Secondary and High School will organize a scholarship exam to recruit talented students in early December 2024.
Hanoi Star School will recruit talented students through a scholarship exam at the end of February. Nguyen Sieu Secondary and High School also plans to organize a 6th grade entrance exam this January.
Therefore, all schools have the same wish, the authorities and the Hanoi Department of Education and Training will soon have specific instructions to ensure fair and effective enrollment.
