Many families have invested hundreds of millions of VND in this process. This is not only tuition fees but also an investment based on the trend of university admissions in recent years.
IELTS has gone a very long way in Vietnam. In 2015, the Ministry of Education and Training for the first time included an IELTS certificate from 3.5 points or higher in the list of subjects exempted from the Foreign Language exam in the high school graduation exam. After that, this certificate was used by universities in admission consideration.
From a certificate assessing English proficiency, which is familiar to those who want to study abroad, IELTS has become an important part of the university admission race.
A certificate can bring many values, but when it becomes an advantage in admission, it also raises the issue of differences in access conditions.
Students in urban areas can study extra, prepare for exams, take exams many times to improve scores; for families with conditions, it is an investment. Conversely, for students in difficult areas, costs and access opportunities can become barriers.
Students are not lacking in capacity. Students may lack funds to find a good foreign language center, find tutors, lack conditions to take exams again and again for a certificate with a not small fee.
Therefore, it is time to return the IELTS certificate to its true value, as a tool to measure international language proficiency, instead of being abused as a criterion in priority points.
If a training major requires English proficiency, why not include English in the criteria or admission combination from the beginning, but consider candidates with other subjects and then add points because they have English certificates? That is the issue that Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son raised, correct and very accurate. When a proficiency is converted into points in the combination, and then continues to be added points, the advantage can be calculated twice and create inequality.
If unreasonable points have been seen, adjustment is necessary. The remaining question is how to adjust?
A 12th grade student cannot turn time back to 10th grade. A family that has spent money and effort to have their child study a certificate according to existing regulations and enrollment methods cannot be considered to have never had that preparation. When policies change, parents' worries in recent days are well-founded.
Innovation is more fair, but there must be a roadmap for schools to have time to adjust enrollment plans. Students and parents also know in advance that the game will change, to proactively plan appropriate learning.
