Eliminate early admission to avoid disrupting high schools

(Dan Tri) - Vice Principal of Duy Tan University Vo Thanh Hai proposed to abolish early admission because 12th grade students in general and specialized school students in particular rely on early admission and neglect their studies.

"Early admission makes students pass into specialized schools and consider it a done deal"

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has just held a discussion with experts, representatives of higher education institutions, and the Department of Education and Training to collect opinions on the draft Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Regulations on university and college admissions for Preschool Education.

At this event, many universities proposed not to limit early admission quota to 20% but to remove it altogether.

Analyzing the negative impact of early admission on the quality of general education, Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son pointed out the reality that many students who were admitted early in the first semester did not study in the second semester and only slept in class.

The general education program lasts 6 semesters, missing a certain semester will not guarantee the output quality.

According to the deputy minister, this is even more evident in students of specialized schools.

"Many students who get into specialized schools are assured of being admitted to university. They only study what they like, which makes the quality go down day by day. We may not feel it right away, but we will pay the price," said Mr. Son.

Sharing the same opinion, Dr. Vo Thanh Hai - Vice Principal of Duy Tan University - reflected on the situation where many students who passed the entrance exam to specialized schools have the mentality of "getting in is enough", and no longer have to focus on studying.

Many students study completely unbalanced, only studying specialized subjects and subjects for admission, leading to many difficulties in university. Meanwhile, studying at university requires comprehensive knowledge of many other subjects in high school.

From this reality, representatives of Duy Tan University and the Academy of Finance proposed to completely eliminate early admission instead of tightening the quota to 20%.

Dr. Vo Thanh Hai believes that early admission should only be retained for students who have won national and international awards. This is a group of talented students who deserve priority.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Dao Tung, Director of the Academy of Finance, said: "We should completely remove it, there is no need to limit it to 20%. Adding 20% ​​does not make much sense. It is better to boldly remove it to create a safe common playground for all schools."

Mr. Tung also said that early admission "causes chaos in high schools". When schools compete for early admission, 12th graders do not study after Tet.

"We don't want to be disrupted by competition," said Mr. Tung.

Representatives of many other universities also proposed to completely eliminate early admission. Accordingly, early admission only increases pressure on students. Previously, students were only pressured by a single exam, the high school graduation exam, but now students are pressured from grade 10 to prepare for early admission conditions, meeting the specific requirements of each school.

However, some opinions say that it is not advisable to completely abolish it this year to avoid public reaction. Many families and students have been preparing for early admission for 3 years, it cannot be abolished just like that.

Candidates taking the 2024 high school graduation exam in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: Hai Long).

Dr. Le Truong Tung - Chairman of the Board of Directors of FPT University - made another proposal, which is not to limit the early admission quota to 20% but only allow the early admission results to be announced at the same time as the general announcement.

This both ensures the autonomy of schools and ensures that grade 12 students do not neglect their studies.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duc Son - Principal of Hanoi National University of Education - also raised an issue that needs attention from the perspective of students' and parents' psychology: "Public opinion may have the opinion that it is necessary to create fair access opportunities for all students in university admissions. But is it reasonable to restrict those who have the conditions to take advantage of more opportunities?"

"Any admission method that cannot be converted to a common scale should be eliminated."

This is the opinion of Dr. Le Truong Tung. He supports the policy of the Ministry of Education and Training on the need to convert admission methods to a common scale to ensure fairness for all candidates. If schools have any method that cannot be converted, they should not use it.

Dr. Vo Thanh Hai said that it is necessary to discuss the conversion formula carefully. To convert, there must be a lot of input data to ensure fairness between the methods. Reducing the selection methods is something that schools need to consider, because the more different methods, the more difficult it is to convert.

In general, opinions from universities mostly support the contents of the draft circular on university and college admission regulations. In particular, universities agree that university admissions must ensure fairness among candidates and not affect the quality of general education.

Candidates taking the 2024 high school graduation exam in Hanoi (Photo: Manh Quan).

Regarding the implementation time, Duy Tan University representative said that it should be done this year, because there is no more ideal time than applying it to the first generation of students studying the 2018 general education program at high school level.

"If we don't do it this year, next year will be even more difficult," Mr. Hai said.

Dr. Le Truong Tung is concerned that adjusting the admission regulations may not cause problems for top schools, but will be difficult for lower-ranking schools, especially non-public schools.

The draft university admission regulations for 2025 have many new points regarding early admission, especially the admission method based on high school transcripts.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) proposed that the early admission quota should not exceed 20% of the total quota.

All admission methods must be converted to a common scale. The admission score by early admission method must not be lower than the general admission standard score.

Schools are still autonomous in their admission methods. However, with the option of considering transcripts, the Ministry requires the academic results of the entire 12th grade year, as well as a combined score of at least 3 subjects including compulsory math and literature.

The draft also stipulates the entry threshold for teacher training and health-related majors that require a practice certificate. Accordingly, the learning outcomes in all three levels of high school must be good or higher, or the high school graduation score must be 8.0 or higher.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/bo-xet-tuyen-som-de-khong-lam-roi-loan-cac-truong-pho-thong-20241207152517663.htm