Candidates taking the 10th grade entrance exam in Hanoi for the 2024-2025 school year - Photo: NAM TRAN
I am from the 7x generation, I still remember when I was in 9th grade, when the first semester was almost over, the teachers would gossip and guess about which two subjects would be chosen for the graduation exam this year. Needless to say, the parents were anxious and worried because at that time, after the secondary school graduation exam, there was also the transfer exam. Oh, there were so many things to worry about.
Over time, this situation was ended thanks to the Ministry of Education and Training's decision to abolish the secondary school graduation exam, giving the Departments of Education and Training full authority to decide on the entrance exam for grade 10 at high schools in their localities.
After that, everything went quite smoothly when most provinces and cities chose the option of testing two basic subjects: literature and math, and adding a foreign language to suit the country's integration trend. Thanks to that, the foreign language proficiency of students gradually improved compared to before.
And then, over time, the Ministry of Education and Training proposed to return to the story of the 1990s: drawing lots for the third subject for the high school entrance exam.
This proposal quickly met with opposition from the majority of parents, as it created unnecessary pressure and anxiety for students and their families. So the Ministry of Education and Training allowed the Departments of Education and Training to decide on the third subject or combination of exams and announce it before March 31 every year.
The problem lies in the fact that "the selection of the third subject must change every year". In my opinion, this is essentially no different from... drawing lots because what is the basis for choosing this subject this year and another subject next year? What is the principle of that selection, which subject comes first, which subject comes later, or does the head of the Department of Education and Training himself... draw lots and then announce it?
Then how many potential negative "foreseeable, after-foreseeable" consequences are there from the relationship between the head of the Department of Education and Training and the principals of primary schools?
I think the best way is to keep the current entrance exam format because the three subjects of literature, math, and foreign language are all compulsory subjects in the high school program. It will be extremely inappropriate and will not solve anything if this year students take the natural science exam, and then next year when entering high school, they choose to study only social subjects, because they do not have the interest or ability to continue with physics, chemistry, and biology.
Another solution is to give students two exams in literature and math and a comprehensive multiple-choice test covering all subjects (except for aptitude and physical education), in which the questions are designed at the level of recognition and understanding that a high school student needs to memorize throughout their entire life (like the multiplication table in math, or the six-eight verse form in literature).
Rotating exams cannot solve the problem of lopsided learning and rote learning, because if a subject is recently tested, it will definitely not be retested in the next few years, so the possibility of being "ignored" is even higher.
Solve the problem of lopsided learning and rote learning by improving the quality of teaching, lesson content, and test-making methods so that students feel interested and useful when participating in that subject. Letting lopsided learning and rote learning happen shows weakness in management, teaching, and student assessment.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bo-boc-tham-mon-thu-3-thi-lop-10-nhung-phai-thay-doi-hang-nam-van-roi-20241021105013623.htm
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